Return
by Fwirl
Summary: It's two years since Ed disappeared after bringing his brother back, but now that Al has gone searching for him, Winry's left alone. When Ed suddenly reappears, how does everyone, especially Winry, react? Definite EdXWinry.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Dun duh duh dah! Here it is, my first FMA fic. ^.^**

**Actually, the real reason I wrote this was for my friend who's graduating this year (you know who you are :P) and this is part of my graduation present to you, so I hope you like it! It was _supposed_ to be a surprise, which is why I couldn't tell you, but you halfway dragged it out anyways. ^.^**

**So, this is the summary: It follows up the first anime up until the movie. The major points are that Ed has disappeared, Al has his body back and that awesome alchemy that lets him transfer part of his soul into an object or whatever, and almost everyone thinks that Ed is dead. Haha, that rhymed. Aaanyways, there are some changes. I made it so that Al still has his memories and Roy is still in the military. When Ed suddenly reappears seemingly out of nowhere after two years, how does everyone react; especially Winry? **

**Please enjoy!**

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Winry felt like her heart would stop beating as she saw Al trudge up the front steps to where she stood in front of Central's military base. It wasn't the Al in armor either; it was the Al from four years ago, literally in the flesh and blood. His brownish-gold hair shone dully in the fading light, and his amber eyes were hard to mistake. He had a tired and devastatingly sad look about him, as if his world had come crashing down around him, one that didn't seem to suit his ten year old body. Rose walked behind him, giving him space.

"Al!" Winry exclaimed, running to greet him and embracing him tightly. "You're back! I'm so glad you two finally got your bodies back." That was when it hit her. "Al…where's Ed?" She let go of Al and looked him in the eyes, already knowing, and dreading, the answer before he spoke it.

"Brother is…he…he's gone," Al choked out. His voice sounded harsh, and Winry wondered whether it was because he was still getting used to his body again or if it was because he had been crying earlier. Probably both.

Winry's stomach clenched painfully and a heavy weight seemed to drop in her chest, making it hard to breathe. "What?" she rasped, hoping she had heard him wrong. Or maybe it was all just a bad dream, and she'd wake up to see Ed waving at her in front of her house, yelling that he broke his automail again and need her to replace it.

Al shook his head as if it physically pained him to do so. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry." He kept repeating it to himself, at first in an apologetic tone and then breaking into sobs. Winry hugged him, as much to comfort him as to hold onto something to stop from falling into a dark abyss that threatened to swallow her.

"It isn't your fault, Al," Winry murmured softly, smoothing his hair. She could feel him shake with grief as he tried to explain what had happened.

"Ed, he died, but then I used the Philosopher's Stone to bring him back," he cried unevenly. "I don't know what happened after that, I think I disappeared, but when I came back, Ed was gone and a huge transmutation circle was drawn, similar to the one we used to transmute our mom back then. Oh, Winry, it was awful. I knew what he had done; he had sacrificed himself to save me. Why did he do it, Winry, why?" By the end, Al was screaming and clenching his fists tightly.

Winry hardly noticed Mustang, Hawkeye, Armstrong, and all the other officers she was friends with behind her. The colonel had taken off his hat in respect, and the others had followed suit, most of them wiping their eyes discreetly. Winry didn't even know that she was crying until she tried to speak again but was stopped by the sadness choking her.

Rose held back, as if unwilling to interrupt their sorrow with her presence. They all just stood there for a moment until Hawkeye came up behind Winry and laid a hand on her shoulder and Al's. She gently guided them inside the building, murmuring her apologies to them until they reached Mustang's office.

"Go ahead and sit down, I'll be right back with some water," Hawkeye told them softly. Her eyes were kind as she looked at the two, something Winry rarely saw in the lieutenant. However, she was too wrapped up in her own grief to do anything but nod. When Hawkeye left the room, Winry turned to Al, who was wiping his eyes roughly.

It must be so hard on him, Winry thought. First he lost his mother and body, and when he finally got his body back, he lost his brother. Plus, he was probably blaming himself for Ed being gone. "It wasn't your fault, Al," she finally said. "You know Ed wouldn't let you die in place of him without doing anything. He would…he would want you to be happy, with or without him."

Al shook his head. "I'm going to find him," he said, his voice determined but still harsh. "I know he's out there; he couldn't die that easily, he just couldn't. You think that too, right Winry?"

To be honest, Winry didn't know exactly what she believed at the moment. A world without Ed didn't seem possible, but the fact was that he was gone. Winry just shook her head as if to clear it from confusion. "I don't know, Al," she whispered, leaning forward to rest her head on her hands.

Al looked saddened by her prospect, but no less deterred. "I'm going to go and take the State Alchemists' exam," he suddenly announced.

"What?" Winry exclaimed. "Al, why on earth would you want to be a State Alchemist? You know what it was like on Ed." Al's face fell momentarily, but he took a deep breath and recovered himself.

"I know, but if I'm going to find a way to bring him back, I need to do a lot of research; research I can only do with the resources provided to State Alchemists," Al explained. "It isn't going to be easy, but it will be near impossible if I can't access every source available."

"Al, you aren't thinking of human transmutation or making another Philosopher's Stone are you?" Winry asked warily.

Al shook his head. "No, Brother and I already learned our lesson about that," he answered her. "I'm going to find another way to get him back. I'm sorry, Winry."

"Stop apologizing, Al, it isn't your fault," Winry told him. She was silent for a moment, debating whether she should tell Al to go and try to find Ed like he wanted to, or stay in Resembool with her, where she could see him everyday and help him like she couldn't do before. With a guilty feeling in the pit of her stomach, Winry knew that the latter choice was selfish, but she wasn't sure what she would do if Al decided to leave so soon after he was back. Worst of all, he wouldn't even have a reason to stop by anymore since Ed wouldn't need maintenance check on his automail.

"Al…is there anything I could say to make you come back with me to Resembool?" Winry whispered.

Al paused and seemed to understand what Winry was thinking. His eyes softened as he answered her. "No, Winry, I'm sorry. I won't stop until Ed is back, no matter what I have to do. I promise I'll visit you every chance I get, and Granny too."

Winry felt tears starting up in her eyes again, blurring her vision. She wiped the back of her hand across her face quickly, not wanting to show Al how upset she was; she didn't want to make him feel guilty. "Then good luck, Al," she said. "I hope you find…what you're looking for." Winry had been about to say 'I hope you find Ed,' but saying his name, even thinking it, hurt her too much.

Mustang and the others came into the office, and Hawkeye handed Winry and Al glasses of water. Al sipped his gratefully, but Winry found she could only stare at the placid surface of the water. Ed…what had happened to him? Was he really dead, or was he just somewhere else, like Al's body had been?

When Winry took notice of her surroundings again, she found that Al must have told his plan to Mustang, because he was talking about the State Alchemists' exam that would be taking place in a few months. Al listened to him intently, and Winry could tell he didn't want to wait a few months before he could actually become a State Alchemist.

"Is there any way I could do research like I was doing before with Ed without State qualifications?" Al asked.

"Not unless you've got another State Alchemist with you," Mustang replied. "If you could find someone who would be willing to go with you to a place with restricted access, then yes, you could." Just as Al opened his mouth to speak, Mustang shook his head. "I'll be busy trying to rebuild the military because of Fuhrer Bradley's betrayal; I can't go with you."

Al nodded his understanding reluctantly. "Then I think I should get started studying for the exam," he said.

"Al, just remember you're always welcome at our house," Winry spoke up. "Whenever you want; it's your home too, you know."

Al tried to smile, but it came out more like a grimace. "Brother and I burned down our home a long time ago," was all he said before leaving the room, not looking at anyone. The room was silent before Mustang spoke again.

"Losing Full Metal was a big blow to him; we should let him get over it in his own way, in his own time," he murmured, more to himself than anyone else.

"Colonel, do you believe that Ed is still alive?" Winry asked suddenly, looking at Mustang with eyes glazed with sadness. Mustang hesitated before he answered.

"I know the taboo of human transmutation, but what Ed did seems different from four years ago," he replied, choosing his words carefully. "I don't know what the price he had to pay to get Al back was, but we can be sure it was costly. There's no way to say for sure whether he's dead or alive until we see him with our own eyes."

"Winry, do you want me to get you a train ticket back to Resembool?" Hawkeye offered.

"Yes please, Lieutenant, thank you," Winry answered in a flat voice. Hawkeye left the office, grabbing her coat from the rack on her way out, and the other officers also dispersed one by one until only Winry and Mustang were left.

"Well Winry, it's your choice for what you should do now," Mustang said as he stood up from his desk.

"My whole life has been about automail, and I really wanted to make a perfect arm and leg for Ed. Maybe then he wouldn't need to risk his life all the time to try and find the Philosopher's Stone to restore his body…"

"You know Ed wouldn't stop looking for it until Al got his body back," Mustang mused. "Still, I suppose it was a good goal. You need to find your own path now, with a new goal." With that, Mustang left and Winry was alone.

However, the thought of a new goal was inconceivable to Winry; she had never wanted anything more than to help people, namely Ed. But what Mustang had said was true; she couldn't spend the rest of her life just living, with no hopes or dreams to try and make real.

Winry looked out of the window at the busy street below, at all of the cheerful faces and happy people and wished she could be one of them too. Sighing, she knew what she was going to do from now on. She would perfect her automail; after all, if Al did manage to find Ed, it wouldn't be long before he needed a new arm and leg. The thought made Winry smile slightly, and she stood up.

It was time to start walking forward.

The first few weeks back at Resembool seemed almost normal to Winry, though much more quiet. There was an expectant tension in the air, and she kept imagining that Ed would walk through the front door, that idiotic smile on his face as he asked for Winry to repair his automail, which would be torn to shreds, of course. But after one month, Ed's absence really began to sink in. Winry stopped looking out of her window at the empty path that led up to their front door and no longer raced to the door when someone knocked on it.

As depressing as the thought was, Ed was really, truly gone. Al still hadn't come back after two months, but Winry knew he was busy studying for the State Alchemists' exam and was also aware that the date for that particular event was slowly creeping up. It seemed everything was happening slowly, each day crawling by unnoticed until four months had passed since Ed's disappearance.

Winry had been devoting all of her time to automail as she had resolved to, and the work was coming along nicely. She had designed a completely new model for a leg and was in the process of creating a new arm that would be lighter and not put as much strain on the body. Even though she knew Ed was gone, she couldn't stop thoughts like _Ed will be so happy when he sees this _from running through her mind.

Word had come from Al that he had successfully passed the State Alchemists' exam and would be coming home for a short visit soon. Winry looked forward to seeing him again, but maybe it was because of a lonely sense of dread that had been weighing down on her lately.

When Al came, the house seemed to brighten somewhat, as did Winry and Granny Pinako. "Al, there you are!" Winry called as Al came walking up the path one morning. She ran to greet him and started talking nonstop. "Congratulations on passing the exam! Of course, there was never any doubt you wouldn't. You were always good at alchemy, just like your brother. How's your research been going? Any breakthroughs or promising leads?"

Al took her barrage of questions and comments with a weary smile on his face, and Winry suddenly stopped, embarrassed. She hadn't realized that she had been so lonely that the first time she saw Al she would start blurting everything out to him. He looked so tired, as if he could just fall over asleep right where he stood.

"Al, are you okay?" Winry asked gently.

"I'm fine, Winry," Al quickly assured her. "Just a little tired, that's all. I'll never know how Ed managed to sleep on those trains; they're so bumpy and rough. I haven't found anything yet, but I know I will. How have you been?"

"Everything's been going okay," Winry answered. "I've been working on some new designs for my automail. Maybe later, would you like to see them?"

"I'm not a mechanic; I probably wouldn't understand any of it," Al laughed. Seeing the crestfallen look on Winry's face, he quickly added, "But I'd love to see them."

Al met Granny with his usually politeness before he went upstairs to get some sleep. Winry was impatient for him to wake up so that she could ask more thoroughly about his research on trying to find a way to bring Ed back, but she knew that if Al had found anything important, he would have either told her as soon as he got here or would keep it a secret if it was dangerous. Meaning, there was nothing Winry could find out from him.

Al left two days later, and didn't return for another few months. Slowly, and without really even noticing it, two years passed by since Ed's disappearance. Not much changed; Al grew, and Winry grew, and Granny Pinako stayed the same as she had always been.

The phone rang downstairs, and Winry hurried down out of her room to get it. "Hello?" she answered.

"Winry?" It was Al.

"It's me, Al," Winry replied, leaning back against the wall of the hallway. "What's up?"

"I think I'm going to come visit tomorrow," Al told her. "If that's okay."

"Of course it's okay, Al, it goes without saying," Winry said. "Anything new come up?" The usual question. The usual tired sigh on the other line. The usual "No, not yet" in answer. "I see…that's too bad. Well, I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Bye Winry," Al replied, then hung up. Winry listened to the constant beeping of the phone before hanging it up. Even now, she still thought about Ed all the time. She had known that no amount of time could ever make her forget about him, and she didn't want to either, but she had hoped it would at least dull the pain a little. But no, it felt as if it had only been yesterday when Al trudged up the Central steps with the news that Ed was gone, and the hurt and heartbreak felt just as fresh and painful as it had on that first day.

"Granny, I'm going to try and finish up the new automail leg I've been working on," Winry told her grandmother, who stood in the kitchen.

"Don't be up too late, especially since it sounds like Al is coming tomorrow," Granny Pinako told her. "You don't want to be tired for that, now do you?"

"No Granny," Winry replied, and went back upstairs to her room.

Winry was halfway done with connecting the nerves in the leg when the doorbell rang. Glancing up at the clock above her work table, Winry was surprised to see it was two in the morning. Who calls on us this late? Winry wondered as she went to answer the door. Was it Al? It had to be. Though he could have given a little warning that he was going to be arriving this early.

The doorbell rang again. "I'm coming, Al!" Winry called as she nearly tripped down the steps. When Winry finally got to the door, she was fully awake and totally unprepared for what happened next.

Winry opened the door to see none other than Edward Elric standing on her front doorstep.

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**A/N Sooo, how was it? I really hoped you enjoyed it, and I apologize for the rushed feeling, but I just wanted to get to the part where Ed comes back and the real plot begins. XD**

**Please review! :D**

**P.S. Happy graduation! Good luck at college, and don't forget to come visit us! ^.^**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Sorry it took a little while to get this chapter up, but I've been cramming for those pesky finals which just begged to be studied for. :P**

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Winry stared at Ed, not willing to believe her eyes. Ed was gone, probably dead; she knew that. But then why was he standing right there in front of her? It had been two years and he was still short, but it looked like he had gotten a little taller, at least. His golden hair was as messy as ever, tied back in a ponytail, and his warm gold eyes, even deeper than the color of his hair, were happy and excited. It didn't look like he had automail, but instead, fake limbs covered by the long, tattered white sleeves of his shirt and the equally worn legs of his pants.

"Ed…?" Winry whispered, as if for confirmation.

"Hey Winry," Ed said softly, with a sort of laugh in his voice. That was when reality seemed to come in at her from all directions. It was as if she had been absent from time ever since she learned that Ed was gone, and she was only now returning to herself. Her vision and other senses seemed clearer, like she had just donned a pair of glasses for the first time when her eyesight had been bad for so long, as well as her mind; she was able to think for once without suppressing those thoughts that she didn't want to think of. And right now she was thinking about falling into Ed's arms and hugging him tightly while crying with relief and telling him how much she had missed him; but she couldn't do that, not here, not now.

Winry smiled, a gentle gesture filled with relief and overflowing happiness, as she said, "Welcome home, Ed." God, don't let this be a dream. If it was, she didn't know how she'd live with herself when she woke up.

Ed grinned as he walked through the door, looking around at the house as he did so. "Man, nothing's changed since I last saw this place…" he murmured softly. Winry quietly shut the door behind him with a soft click and she turned to face him.

"Ed…what…how…" she couldn't even get the words out. All she could do was watch him in amazement and simply enjoy him being there.

"Did you miss me, Winry?" Ed teased, smiling with that idiotic grin of his.

"Of course I missed you, you idiot," Winry chuckled, then walked forward and hugged him tightly as she came close to him. He seemed a little surprised, but he hugged her back, well, not so much with his right arm, but he tried to. That was when Winry remembered the automail she had been designing. "Oh, Ed, you'll absolutely love the new automail I've made!" she exclaimed, backing away a little to look him in the eye.

"Alright Winry, but how about we let it wait til morning?" Ed suggested. "You look really tired, and I'm sorry for calling on you guys this late." He looked around again, like there was something– or someone– he was trying to find.

"What is it, Ed?" Winry asked, noticing this.

"Is…um, is Al…" Ed started, then lowered his eyes.

"Oh, Al will be coming in the morning," Winry informed him.

"Then he's okay?" he asked, eyes shining hopefully.

"Why wouldn't he be okay?" Winry asked, puzzled, before she remembered that Ed hadn't seen Al restored to his body; he probably hadn't even known whether he was alive or dead. Oh, well, that explained his reluctance when he asked about Al. "Al's just fine," she assured Ed. "I know he'll be overjoyed to see you tomorrow; he's been looking for you all this time, you know."

"Really?" Ed said, his eyes softening. "That's just like Al."

"Yeah," Winry replied, looking away to hide the blush that was suddenly creeping up her face. What was with her? Ed was back! Why the heck was she looking away from him, even for a second? "I guess I should tell Granny Pinako that you're here; if she came into the guest bedroom in the morning and found you lying there without warning, she'd probably have a heart attack," Winry joked. Ed smiled in return, making Winry's heart skip in her absolute happiness.

Grabbing Ed by the wrist, Winry gently guided him up the stairs to Granny Pinako's room. She knocked softly on the door, acutely aware of how late–er, early, it was. "Are you awake?" she asked quietly. No answer. She asked again, a little louder, and was rewarded by the sound of footsteps on the other side of the door.

"What is it, Winry?" Pinako grumbled, opening the door and rubbing her eyes blearily. Winry stepped aside to present Ed, and Pinako's eyes widened, her arms dropping to her sides instantly. She seemed to stare him over for a moment, then said dryly, "I suppose you'll need a place to stay tonight."

Ed grinned even wider than before. "Thanks, Granny," he said, before she nodded and paused halfway back into her room. She glanced at him once more before muttering something incoherently to herself and shutting the door of her room behind her. Winry smiled as she led Ed to the guest room where he and his brother always used to stay the night.

Pushing open the door, Ed walked inside without hesitation. "Nothing's changed," he repeated to himself, walking over to the window and looking down on the path that wound to the front of the house.

"You're clothes look pretty worn," Winry commented. "Do you want me to go see if we have any spare clothes for you?"

"Winry, you don't have to do that," Ed replied, looking back at her. "You should get to bed, it's late."

"It wouldn't take any time at all," Winry insisted. "Besides, those clothes can't be comfortable for you." Ed blushed and turned away, muttering his assent.

Winry quickly left the room, heading downstairs to the hall closet. Shifting through the random clothes and coats hung there, she finally pulled out a blue T shirt and a pair of khaki colored shorts that she thought might fit him. Leaping up the stairs two at a time, she reached the room Ed was staying in slightly out of breath. She half expected him to be gone when she opened the door, but no, he was standing right where she had left him, staring out the window.

The way the moonlight caught his hair and made it shine ever so slightly made him seem like some sort of angel descended from heaven. Blushing profusely for thinking something like that, Winry knocked on the door frame quietly, feeling herself warm up even more as her eyes met Ed's bright, piercing golden ones.

Ed sighed in apparent relief as he accepted the clothes from Winry. "Thanks, I really appreciate all of this Winry," he thanked her, smiling again. It seemed like he was happy to be home, happy at every simple little thing that he saw. It made Winry wonder where he had been and what he had been doing these past two years that would cause everything to make him smile.

"What happened, Ed?" Winry whispered, but Ed shooed her out of the door.

"Tomorrow, Winry, it's getting late," Ed reminded her. At her look of plain disappointment, he added, "Plus, Al will be here tomorrow and Granny Pinako will be awake; I'd rather just have to explain it all once." Winry nodded, still fairly disappointed, but ready to wait. After all, she had been waiting two years for him to return.

Winry walked silently down the hall to her own room and slipped under the covers of her bed She knew she wouldn't be able to get to sleep; not with Ed in the room next to hers after not seeing him all these years. She don't know how long she just laid there, listening to her breathing as it slowed and became deeper, until without realizing it, she had fallen asleep.

A knock on Winry's door the next morning woke her up. She groggily looked over at her clock: nine o'clock. "Winry, breakfast is almost ready!" Granny Pinako called from the hallway. "Come on, you can't sleep all day. Al will be getting ready to get on his train soon, and you want time to get ready for his arrival, don't you?"

Winry blinked several times, trying to collect her thoughts. She sat up with a jolt as she remembered Ed coming home last night, then suddenly wondered if it had all been a dream after all. In any case, Granny Pinako hadn't mentioned him at all just now. She felt tears well up in her eyes as she asked out loud, "What about Ed?"

"He's downstairs already," Pinako replied, the sound of her steps retreating down the hallway as she descended to the kitchen. Winry leaped out of her bed to her dresser, randomly pulling out a black shirt and jeans and shoving them on, then running downstairs to the kitchen. Looking around, Winry saw Ed already seated at the table, watching as Pinako made pancakes on the stove. His face brightened when he saw Winry.

"Hey, did you sleep well?" he asked cheerfully.

"Yeah, how about you?" Winry replied, sitting across from him.

"Fine, thanks," Ed answered. "Oh, that's right! Did you say you designed new automail last night?"

Winry's eyes shone with pride as she immediately delved into describing the new automail she had created. Ed didn't interrupt her constant stream of talk and explanations, but sat listening quietly, a slight smile on his face as he listened to her, asking a question here or there occasionally.

"With the new adjustment, your automail should be a lot lighter and easier to move around," Winry went on as Pinako set down a plate of pancakes in front of them. "It's also stronger, so maybe you won't end up breaking it as much as you used to, if that's even possible. You'll just love it, I know you will!"

Ed laughed at her shining face and began to pour syrup on his plate. "Sounds like you've been kept busy while I was away."

Winry nodded as she started eating her breakfast. "You still have to explain to me where exactly you disappeared to," she reminded him through her mouthful of food.

"I know, I know," Ed answered, rolling his eyes. "I told you I was going to wait until Al got back, didn't I?"

Winry nodded and continued eating. Oh how she had missed talking to Ed! He was always so much fun to be around, even if he did always make her worry herself to near death. She had forgotten what it was like to enjoy talking so much with someone and just feeling their presence with her. She felt suddenly nostalgic as she watched Ed stubbornly refuse the milk Pinako was trying to get him to drink.

"You know why you're still so short? It's because you never drink any milk!" Pinako asserted, shoving the glass towards him across the table.

"I'm not short, miniature hag!" Ed retorted, pushing it back with a glare on his face.

"What? Shrimp!"

"Microscopic old prune!"

Winry couldn't help but grin as she watched them go back and forth insulting each other, just like the old days. "Ed, do you need anything?" Winry asked as she finished eating.

Ed glanced over at her and an eager look suddenly crossed his face. "Could you try fitting the new automail on?" he asked excitedly, already standing up. Winry smiled at him; he was like a little kid asking his mother to buy him a new toy in a store, knowing full well that his mother would give in.

"What do you think, Granny?" Winry asked, feigning thoughtfulness. "Is he ready for it?"

Pinako put on a serious face as she looked him up and down like she was assessing him. "I don't know Winry," she eventually replied.

"Pleeease?" Ed begged, looking at Winry with wide, innocent eyes that she knew perfectly well usually meant mischief.

"I think he's ready," Winry finally relented.

"Yes!" Ed cheered, throwing his hands in the air. He departed to the living room, glancing back when he didn't see the others follow. "Are you guys coming, or what?"

Winry laughed at his enthusiasm and stood up from the table. "I'll go get the automail from my room, and you do whatever Granny tells you to to get ready for us to connect the nerves," Winry instructed him, leaving the kitchen and heading up the stairs towards her room. She felt light-headed with all of the excitement in the house as she grabbed aforementioned automail and some tools she'd need from her desk and made her way back downstairs.

Ed was sitting on the couch without his fake limbs, Pinako standing next to him with a wrench in her hand. They glanced up as Winry entered the room, proudly carrying the culmination of all of her hard work over the past two years. She handed the leg to Pinako, who started to fit it to the port at Ed's knee, as she herself started to connect his new arm.

When it was all ready, Winry fit her wrench to the screw that would connect the nerves, and Pinako did the same on the leg. "Ready?" Winry asked Ed. He nodded, not quite so eager anymore as he braced himself for the nerves to connect. "One, two, three!" Winry turned the wrench deftly in her hand at the same time as Pinako and she heard a slight buzz as Ed's left hand tightened into a fist and his right leg shot out in front of him.

After a few seconds, Ed tried to move his new automail arm, bringing the hand to his face and curling and flexing the fingers. The grin on his face widened as he stretched out his left automail leg, obviously happy with the results. He stood up and nearly fell as he tried to get used to the automail again, but he quickly got back into the rhythm of it.

As Ed gleefully walked around the room, Winry felt that she had never been happier in all of her life.

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**A/N Okay, so I was looking through the FMA fandom, and I have to admit, I was thoroughly depressed by how many RoyEd fics I saw out there; namely every other one. Come on, people, EdWin all the way! XP**

**Also, does anyone know how Winry refers to her grandmother? Is it Granny, or Pinako, Granny Pinako, or even Grandma? Please help me out here if you know, because for right now I just keep switching back and forth. -_-'**

**Oh, and if anyone has adjectives for 'smile' and 'grin' I'd also be happy if you could share them; I feel like I used those words like a hundred times in this past chapter. T-T**

**I have exams this week, so I probably won't get another update in until Friday at the absolute earliest, but after that, it's summer vacation! Woohoo!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N I'm baaack! Now school, exams, and homework are all over for the next two and a half months! I hope to get a lot done with this story over the summer, so look forward to some updates. ^.^**

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_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

Ed paced around the room impatiently as the clock chimed two o'clock in the next room over. Then he sat down in a chair with a sigh of agitation, glanced at the clock, stood back up, and resumed his pacing. Winry sat on the couch, her legs pulled up to her chest and her chin resting on her knees as she watched Ed.

"Would you stop fidgeting?" she finally demanded. "Al will be here when he gets here."

With a huff, Ed sat back down in the chair. "I can't help it," he muttered. "I want to see Al."

"You walking around like that won't change anything," Winry replied. Ed didn't reply. Winry sighed; he'd been like this all morning ever since he had had his automail connected. After doing a few simple exercises to make sure the automail was okay, he hadn't stopped pestering her and Granny about Al and what he had missed while he was away, but mostly about Al.

The one thing he hadn't asked about directly was what Winry had been doing while he was gone. Yes, she had told him that she had designed new automail, but he hadn't asked about anything else. It made her mad and disappointed at the same time just thinking about it. The way he kept asking about Al, who wasn't even here, when she was standing right in front of him…

Winry shook her head firmly. What was she saying; that she was jealous of Al? It was natural for Ed to worry about his brother, who he hadn't even been sure was alive all this time. She could wait for him to ask about her, even if it took forever.

Granny entered the living room from the kitchen, where she had been cleaning up from lunch, and looked at Ed and Winry. "Can't you two find something better to do than sit around?" she asked.

Ed opened his mouth to object when a knock sounded on the door, soft and polite. He froze, looking at Winry, who rolled her eyes and went to open the door. As the old wooden door creaked open, Winry wasn't surprised to see Al standing before her, a suitcase in his right hand.

Now that Winry was no longer in the daze that had taken over her when Ed had disappeared, she noticed some things about Al that she hadn't before. He looked eternally exhausted, with purple marks under his eyes to show for it. His eyes glinted with loosely veiled sorrow and regret in the sunlight, and something about him made him seem older than twelve years old, though that could be because he had four years of experience that his body didn't account for.

"Welcome home, Al!" Winry greeted him cheerfully, and Al looked at her oddly.

"Did something good happen to you, Winry?" he asked. "You sound the happiest you've been since Broth…since two years ago, I mean."

"Well, you're about to share in my good cheer," Winry informed him, giving him a wink.

"Winry, I don't think anything's going to cheer me up right now," Al sighed. "I hit another dead end in my research and now I have nothing else to go on."

"Forget your research then," Winry said, steering him inside the living room as he protested fiercely at her comment.

"You know I can't forget my research!" Al argued. "I just need a little more time, that's all, then you'll see, I'll…" He stopped abruptly when he saw Ed standing at the back of the chair he had been sitting in previously. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally managed to choke out, "Brother? Is that really you?"

"Yeah, Al…it's me," Ed whispered, his voice filled with relief as he recognized his brother. Al rushed over to Ed, dropping his suitcase, and hugged him, laughing as he did so.

"You haven't gotten much taller, Ed," Al teased.

"Hey, hey, there's no need for that!" Ed retorted, but his eyes danced with his joy at being able to see Al again. Winry felt out of place and intrusive as she watched the two brothers meet each other again after two long years, but at the same time, she found she couldn't look away from them. Everything had finally seemed to fall back into place, to return to normal.

Winry returned to her seat on the couch as Ed and Al took seats across from each other in front of her. "Al, what have you been up to?" Ed asked. "I'm happy you finally got your body back; I was worried it hadn't worked after all."

"I've been doing a lot of research, and I even got State qualifications to do it thoroughly," Al replied. "Ed, where were you? I tried to find a way to bring you back, but nothing would work. It was hard enough not knowing what I was even looking for…"

"That's right, Ed, you said you'd tell us where you went when Al got here," Winry pointed out. "Now that he's here, you should have no problems, right?"

"Actually, I was on the other side of the Gate," Ed answered. Winry gave Ed a look that clearly questioned what the Gate was, but he went on. "The other side was just like this one, almost. You couldn't use alchemy, but a lot of people there looked like people from this side of the Gate. It was really weird, to be honest."

"Ed, what's the Gate?" Winry asked directly.

"It's nothing you need to worry about, Winry," Ed told her, Al nodding in apparent agreement. Winry felt a flare of anger ignite in her chest; why was Ed always keeping things from her? Not just him, but Al, too. Didn't they trust her enough to tell her what was going on? However, before she could object, Al started speaking again.

"What are you going to do now, Brother?" he asked. The question made Winry confused; they'd stay here, of course…right? She glanced at Ed, hoping he'd confirm her thoughts, but instead, he looked speculative.

"I don't really know," he admitted.

"Aren't you going to stay here?" Winry asked. "Al has his body back now, so you don't need to keep doing dangerous things like you were before."

"But Brother still doesn't have his arm and leg back," Al argued. "We promised we'd get our bodies back together."

"I'm fine with an automail arm and leg," Ed objected.

"That still doesn't answer either of our questions, Ed," Winry pointed out softly. "What are you going to do now?"

Ed didn't answer at first. He stared out of the window at the azure sky, thinking for a long moment. "I'd like to see everyone at Central again," Ed finally answered, grinning. "It'd blow the Colonel away to see me after so long, I bet."

"Everyone thinks you're dead," Al informed his brother. "It would surprise them, but after that, you'd have to be a dog of the military again once they know you're alive. Oh, and Mustang's a General now."

"What, he still isn't Fuhrer yet?" Ed scoffed. "He'll always be the Colonel." Al laughed at Ed's remark, but Winry wasn't amused. They were going to leave again? Just after they had gotten back?

"Winry, why don't you come with us?" Ed suggested suddenly. Winry jumped at being addressed and looked at Ed as if he had just questioned the ability to breathe.

"You want me to come?" she asked, forcing down the hope that was starting to well up in her throat.

"Why not?" Ed replied with a shrug. "You don't have to come if you don't want to."

"Of course I'll come!" Winry declared, then hastily added, "You might need someone to check your automail for you the way you always broke it."

"Hope you don't mind us borrowing her for a while, Granny," Ed said.

"Just be careful," Granny Pinako warned them, but a smile was touching her lips. "Trouble always seemed to follow you two brothers." Everyone laughed, but Winry's laugh was more of relief and happiness than anything else.

"When do you plan on leaving?" Granny asked. Ed and Al exchanged a glance.

"Would tomorrow morning be okay?" Al suggested. "I already told General Mustang I'd be stopping by soon to give him my report. Plus, it would give Winry time to get her tools together."

"Tomorrow's fine with me," Ed put in.

"Alright," Winry agreed. She couldn't remember ever having left Resembool since Ed's disappearance; maybe seeing Sheska and Lt. Hawkeye in Central would do her some good.

The next morning saw Ed, Winry, and Al stepping off of the train into Central. Granny Pinako had managed to find more clothes for Ed, so he now wore a scarlet red shirt and jeans and had a borrowed suitcase at his side. Winry was wearing a light blue sweater with khaki pants and had a large case for her tools slung over her back and a suitcase in her hand. Al had his own suitcase with him, and wore a white shirt with navy blue pants.

"Did you guys tell anyone from Central that we'd be coming?" Winry asked, looking around the train station.

"Nah, I wanted to surprise them," Ed replied.

"They'll be surprised alright," Al muttered. "_I_ should have at least called to tell them I was coming to drop off my report."

"Too late to worry about it now, Al," Ed declared, purposely leading the way through the crowd. Winry was right behind him, and Al struggled to keep up with them against the jostling crowd.

When they finally exited the train station, Winry had to shade her eyes from the bright sunlight that streamed down into the city, reflecting off of windows and tall buildings. The streets were crowded, more so than the last time Winry had been there it seemed.

A large building loomed above all others, a large green banner hanging down from it with the military's symbol decorating the front of it. The white walls shone like polished marble and people in several different types of military uniforms filed through the double doors, stacks of papers balanced precariously in their hands.

"Are you just going to barge right in?" Winry asked doubtfully as they headed toward the military building. "Do you even have your silver watch to get in?"

"Don't worry about it," Ed replied, shrugging off her concerns. "I have my watch, but only Al needs to show his for all of us to enter."

"Right," Winry agreed, but she was still less than confident. But as they went up the steps and through the doors of the building, no one challenged them. A few people that Winry didn't recognize waved to Al, who politely returned the gesture. Along the way, he told them who they were and what they did in the military.

"That's Lt. Colonel Rina Glass; she looks nice and innocent, but she's an expert when it comes to hand-to-hand combat…and over there is Major Michael Ashton; he's in charge of filing reports for criminals."

"Lt. Colonel Glass looks very young to be in the army," Winry commented, glancing back over her shoulder at the retreating figure. She was tall and lean, with dark red hair that barely reached her shoulders and looked to be about fourteen or fifteen. "Why's she here?"

"I've never asked her about it before," Al admitted. "After all, Brother and I joined the military at young ages, and our reasons weren't exactly something we wanted to share. I figured she'd tell me if she ever wanted me to know."

"Oh, do you like her Al?" Winry teased.

"I-I do not!" Al replied hotly, his face blushing as he looked away from Winry, who giggled.

"That's so cute, Al!" Winry said. "You never told me you had any interests other than your research. If you like her so much, you should just ask her out."

"What about you?" Al countered, causing Winry's face to heat up instantly.

"What about Winry?" Ed asked, obviously confused. For a child genius, he sure could be dense sometimes, Winry reflected.

"Nothing," Winry declared. "Anyways, are we almost there yet?"

Relieved for a change in conversation, Al answered, "It's the next door on the right." Al had taken over leading the way to Mustang's office since it had been moved after Ed's disappearance and he no longer knew where it was.

Now Al stood before a door with a silver plaque that read 'General Mustang' near the top of it. He knocked in his soft, polite way, and announced, "Alphonse Elric, sir; I have my report and some company with me."

"Come in," Mustang said from the other side of the door. He sounded weary, but glad at the same time. As Al pushed open the door, Winry saw at least five or six people sitting at a table in the center of the room, working on various papers and reports. She recognized Hawkeye, Breda, Ross, Falman, Fuery, and Havoc after watching them closely; it had been awhile since she had seen them, and she no longer knew if they held the same rank as when she had seen them last.

General Mustang was sitting behind his desk near the back of the room, a pen in hand as he glanced over the paper before him. He signed it near the bottom, then pushed the paper to a pile on the corner of his desk and faced Al. "Another report?" he sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Things seem really busy," Winry commented, looking around the office.

"Oh, Winry, you're here," Mustang said, surprised. "You look well; you seemed very tired and dazed last time I saw you."

"When was that?" Winry asked, her tone clearly conveying her confusion.

Mustang's eyes softened. "I visited you a quite a few months ago, it's normal you wouldn't remember." Winry felt embarrassed that she couldn't recall him coming over at all at first, but then she vaguely remembered him visiting her and saying that he wanted to check up on her to see how she was. Hawkeye had said that he was just trying to get out of work.

Hawkeye looked up from her work and smiled at Al and Winry. "Good to see you," she greeted.

That was when Mustang noticed Ed standing slightly behind Winry in the doorway. "Who's your friend?" he asked Al.

"Geez, Colonel, it's only been two years, and you've already forgotten me?" Ed asked in mock disappointment. Winry and Al moved aside so that everyone could see him better, and Winry noticed quite a few pens drop as everybody turned their full attention on Ed.

Mustang was as good as ever at hiding what he was really feeling; the only thing that exposed him was his wide, shocked eyes. "Full Metal…?" he asked quietly, his tone disbelieving.

"Unless there's another alchemist that looks, acts, and talks exactly like me, you'd be correct," Ed replied. His beaming face made Winry realize just how glad Ed was to see everyone again. Had he been suffering alone all of this time?

Ignoring their work, everyone rushed forward to speak with Ed, with the sole exception of Mustang. He sat at his desk leaning his chin on his hands as he watched his officers, his face completely expressionless now. Winry watched on as Ed greeted and exchanged news with all of his comrades, feeling even more separated from him than ever before.

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**A/N I'm sorry I didn't get this chapter finished sooner; I had been planning on doing it yesterday, but then I got distracted. -_-'**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Sorry it took so long! I was working on some fics for forum contests, and I got a little sidetracked. -_-'**

**Plus, I realized a little problem with my plot for this story. I wanted to make it Edwin, and I still will, of course, but I wanted to do it without making all of the characters OOC. But as I looked back at the FMA series, I realized that the only time Ed is **_**ever**_** romantic is when Winry is in trouble. –headdesk– **

**In short, expect to see some action coming up, and with it, Edwin. XD**

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"Alright, alright, get back to work; we still have a lot to do," General Mustang ordered after ten minutes had passed and everyone was still treating Ed like he was some sort of ghost. And who knew? Winry thought. Maybe he was.

The officers reluctantly followed his order, scraping their chairs back across the floor and picking up the pens they had dropped. "Colonel Hawkeye, please get me that report we filed a few days ago about the disappearances in the East," Mustang requested. Winry was a little surprised; so Hawkeye _had_ been promoted. Then again, it had been two years, and she was a wonderful soldier and a great shot, so it was no great shock that she was now a Colonel. Had anyone else been promoted?

The Colonel nodded, leaving the room to look for said file. "So Lt. Hawkeye's a Colonel now, huh?" Ed asked after she had left, not able to hide the note of sadness in his voice.

"That's right," Mustang answered. "Al, did you say you had that report?"

"Oh, yes," Al said, surprised at being addressed so suddenly. He walked up to Mustang's desk and handed him a packet of sheets, the topmost one filled with neat scrawls and equations.

"Thank you, Alphonse," Mustang said, riffling through the papers, but Winry could tell he wasn't overly excited about having something else to look at.

"Full Metal, are you going to remain in the army?" Mustang asked suddenly. The question took everyone in the room by surprise, and even the scribbling of pens on paper stopped as everybody waited to hear Ed's answer. Winry glanced at him, but couldn't tell what he was thinking at all.

"I'm not sure," Ed finally answered after a long, agonizing pause. "I don't know what I'm going to do yet. When I got here, I just wanted to see everyone again, but that was as far ahead as I planned."

"We still need to get your arm and leg back, Ed," Al stubbornly reminded him. "We promised we wouldn't stop until we both got our bodies back, and I'm the only one–"

"The file you wanted, sir," Colonel Hawkeye said, suddenly interrupting Al as she reentered the office. Al seemed to remember where he was and stopped talking, but looked straight at Ed to remind him of his point.

"Al, we don't need to be risking our lives for that," Ed whispered so softly that Winry wasn't even sure she had heard it. "As long as you have your body back, I'm fine with this."

Al looked like he was about to argue, but Mustang turned to them after holding a quick, whispered conversation with Colonel Hawkeye. "Full Metal, would you accept a military mission?" he asked calmly, his hands folded over the file Hawkeye had just given him.

Winry stared at him in disbelief. Ed had just gotten back! Why would Mustang ask him to go out and do some mission when he had hardly seen his former subordinate for only fifteen minutes? Glancing at the Elric brothers, she noticed with a sort of satisfied feeling that they had the same surprised looks on their faces.

"Why…" Ed started to say, but then trailed off as Mustang held up his hand for silence.

"This is an important mission, one that I can only give to someone who isn't well-known and to someone that I can completely trust," Mustang explained.

"Are you saying I'm not well-known?" Ed asked indignantly.

"I'm saying I need someone who can lay low, and as a teenager, it should be easy enough for you to do that," Mustang replied. He paused and seemed to consider something before he added, "Many people think the Full Metal Alchemist is dead."

Ed blinked, not seeming to register Mustang's last statement. Then he sighed and said, "So you need to find someone who's powerful enough to do this job, but not distinguished among the populations so that they won't be recognized instantly. You also said you needed someone you could completely trust, which means this mission might involve a betrayal in the army, right? Sounds complicated, if you ask me."

"It seems you've gotten sharper while you were gone," Mustang observed shrewdly. "Yes, it involves all of those things. However, I can't go into more detail until I have your answer."

Ed let out a bored sigh, and even before he spoke his answer out loud, Winry had a sinking feeling in her chest as she realized that she knew what was going to happen. "Yeah, fine, I'll do it; I'm still the Full Metal Alchemist, even if everyone does think I'm not around anymore," Ed told Mustang. "Now will you explain what it is I have to do?"

Mustang nodded, not to Ed, but to Colonel Hawkeye. She left the office once more without a word, and Mustang turned back to Ed, Al, and Winry as if nothing had happened. "Alphonse, I'd like to request that you also go on this mission with your brother," Mustang said, turning his gaze to the younger Elric, who nodded immediately. "Good; there will be one more person joining you two."

"Who is it?" Ed asked curiously.

"General, she's here," Hawkeye reported, walking back into the office with a young girl in an officers' uniform striding behind her. It took Winry a moment to push back her distress at losing both Ed and Al so quickly, and another minute or so to recognize the girl that had come in with Hawkeye.

It was Lt. Colonel Rina Glass that Al had pointed out earlier. Her shoulder length dark red hair and bright green eyes shone in the glaring light of the office, but her expression was as unreadable as Mustang's when she entered the office. "Lt. Colonel," Mustang greeted.

"General Mustang," Lt. Colonel Glass returned with a salute. "You had something you needed me for?"

"Yes," Mustang answered. "I'd like you to go on a mission with the Elric brothers."

"Elric brothers?" Lt. Colonel Glass echoed, looking at where Ed, Al, and Winry were standing. Her eyes went wide when she saw Ed, and she saluted him as well, then Al, and looked uncertainly at Winry.

"This is Winry Rockbell, Ed's mechanic," Mustang introduced. "Winry, this Lt. Colonel Rina Glass."

"Pleased to meet you, Lt. Colonel Glass," Winry greeted politely.

"The pleasure's all mine," Lt. Colonel Glass replied. Grinning, she added, "You can call me Rina."

"Hey, Colonel, no offense to the Lt. Colonel, but didn't you say that you needed people you could completely trust for this mission?" Ed asked Mustang, still calling him Colonel despite his new rank.

"Full Metal, I'm a General now, and you should address me as such," Mustang told him. "As for the Lt. Colonel, she's been working under me for a long time and she has handled many important matters for me. She can be trusted for this."

"Thank you, General," Rina said, turning back to Mustang.

"Now for the details of the mission," Mustang said, and looked back through the file for a minute before continuing. "Lately, several important people have gone missing in the East, and there's only one connection between them: they were all famous military officers with the rank of Major or higher. Some were retired, some on break, but most were still active and on duty at the time."

"Wait, didn't you say that this could involve a betrayal in the military?" Ed asked. "It sounds like this could be the work of someone who doesn't approve of the military."

"I don't think that's the case," Mustang replied. "If it was someone who didn't like the military, they wouldn't just aim for officers with the rank of Major or higher; they'd go after anyone in the army. Also, they would probably kill them right on the spot and let the world know they were dead instead of taking the trouble to make them disappear."

"What do you think is going on then?" Ed asked. Winry was surprised to see him look and sound so serious; Ed was hardly ever serious about anything.

"I think someone in the military is trying to gather their own army, led by the best officers he or she can get," Mustang answered, narrowing his eyes. "Which could eventually lead to a coup d'etat, something we need to avoid at all costs. Thus, I'm sending the three of you to the East to try and find out and stop whoever is doing this."

Winry watched as Ed, Al, and Rina nodded. All of them were prepared to go to the battlefield, prepared to risk their life if necessary for the sake of the mission entrusted to them. And suddenly, Winry didn't want to see them go, not knowing if she'd ever see them again. She didn't know what she would do if she had to go through the pain of losing Ed again, and this time, Al could disappear right along with him.

"General Mustang, please let me go with them!" Winry suddenly blurted out. Everyone turned to stare at her, wondering what she was thinking, most likely. But she didn't care; she wanted to be with Ed no matter what people thought of her.

"Why would you want to go, Winry?" Mustang asked, unable to keep the surprise from his voice.

"I…I want to see how well my new automail functions," Winry quickly said. Well, it wasn't entirely a lie, she told herself. She really did want to see the results of her past two years' hard work. "No one's ever used it before, and if something is wrong, I'll need to fix it as soon as possible so it doesn't hinder anyone."

"Winry, that's kind of you to offer, but it's going to be dangerous out there," Ed told her. "Besides, your automail always works just fine, and we already tested it earlier. No problems, right?"

Winry couldn't believe it; Ed, the person she was trying to stay with, was telling her not to come. Why? Didn't he see how much she cared about him? She would do anything to stay by his side, even if it meant getting herself involved in this possible coup d'etat.

"I think it's a good idea," Mustang agreed suddenly. "We can't take the risk of having something happen that endangers the entire plan. However, be careful and don't get yourself involved in the fights, if possible."

"Understood, sir," Winry replied, resisting the urge to throw a salute to the General. Ed looked like he was about to argue, as well as Al, but Mustang went right into giving instructions, leaving no room for argument.

"All of you are just going to act like normal kids in the area," Mustang explained. "I'll ask Colonel Hawkeye to arrange for a place for the four of you to stay later. I want you to research the disappearances more thoroughly and keep an eye on the people who are suspected to go missing next. However, no one, not even those in the military, must know what you are doing or who you are. This is a top secret mission."

Mustang glanced at Winry, and she nodded in understanding; she wouldn't tell anyone about this, especially not Granny Pinako. "You are to keep a written journal of each day; write down everything, even if it doesn't appear significant at the moment, because it might later," Mustang continued. "I don't want you to get involved in anything that would make your name or face familiar, and you'll also be given fake names and IDs.

"If you find anything of importance, two of you come back to Central immediately to report it. Whatever you do, don't use the phone to contact me; it could easily be tapped. The other two will continue their work carefully until further developments have been made."

"Hold on, Colonel," Ed objected. If Mustang felt annoyed by Ed's continuous use of his old title, he didn't show it. "You make it sound as if Winry is involved in the mission with us."

"If she's going to go, then I would like to ask that she helps out as much as she can," Mustang replied. "She doesn't have to do anything if she doesn't choose to."

"I'll try my best," Winry promised.

Ed still looked disgruntled, but he didn't say anything more. "If that's the case, then that's all for now," Mustang said dismissively. "Come back tomorrow and we'll have everything ready for you, including the tickets for the train that departs tomorrow evening."

"We're leaving that soon?" Al asked.

"It's a matter that can't be left alone any longer," Mustang replied. "I was planning on asking you, Alphonse, to take care of this mission when you got here. I just didn't expect you to bring Ed and Winry along with you." He turned to speak to all four of them. "Rest and enjoy yourselves tonight, but when you get to the East tomorrow…Be careful."

* * *

**A/N So…somehow I ended up throwing some random OC in there last chapter and hinting at Al liking that character. Therefore, I decided to involve that OC in the plot to make it more exciting. Hope you enjoyed it, and please review! ^.^**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Here is my advice for the day: If you ever go to the beach, wear sunscreen. A **_**lot**_**. Unfortunately, my friend and I found this out too late the other day and got burned like marshmallows roasting over a campfire. Not fun, I assure you. Now, onto the chapter!**

* * *

The next morning, Winry found herself once more in Mustang's office, tiredly wiping the sleep out of her eyes. It was early–earlier than she would have liked to be up. She pulled her thick coat closer around her, more out of nervousness than the cold weather.

Ed was leaning nonchalantly against the back wall, his arms crossed as he stared out of the opposite window. Al was sitting next Rina on the beat up couch on the other side of the room, both of them drinking cups of warm milk and rubbing their hands together to get warmer.

The heater in the building had broken down late last night, making the building almost as cold as it was outside. Most of General Mustang's officers were out on business, leaving only Hawkeye in the office with them. She was silently sorting papers on the large desk in the center of the room, only speaking to ask one of them to do something for her every once in awhile.

Everyone was waiting for Mustang to appear. Once he came with the documents, Ed, Al, and Rina, with Winry tagging along, would leave for the East to start their mission. The sound of shuffling papers pervaded the room, but Winry could almost hear the tension crackling in the air.

Glancing at the door, Winry sighed as she saw that it was empty. She didn't know what she had been expecting, but somehow, this was not it. She had always seen Mustang as the type of person who was responsible, reliable, and _on time_. They had already been waiting for twenty minutes, and Winry wasn't sure how much longer she could just stand there doing nothing.

"Is he always this late?" Winry muttered to no one in particular.

"Something came up," Hawkeye answered, not even turning back to look in Winry's direction.

"Isn't he the one who said this mission couldn't wait any longer?" Ed grumbled. He looked aggravated, but Winry got the feeling that it wasn't just because of Mustang's tardiness. Normally she would've asked him what was wrong, but right now, she felt too tired.

The next ten minutes played by slowly, Winry glancing at the clock every five seconds and twirling a lock of her hair absently. She was starting to wonder if they would miss the train at this rate as Mustang walked in. He looked like he had just rolled out of bed; his hair was a tangled mess and he covered a yawn before coming to stand in front of his desk. In his hand, he held a small package.

"Everyone is here, then?" Mustang asked, glancing around at the people in the room.

"You were the last one here," Ed confirmed, a slight scowl on his face. "What took you?"

"Something came up," Mustang answered vaguely. Winry could tell by his tone that it wasn't a 'something' that he wanted to discuss. Apparently Ed noticed too, because he didn't press the subject. "Here are your fake IDs, your background information, train tickets, journals, and the address of the place you'll be staying at." Mustang tossed the package to Al, who caught it deftly in his right hand.

"Background information?" Winry repeated.

"We have to have some sort of story," Rina answered for Mustang. "If someone sees four kids walking around, alone, they'll wonder what's up, right? So we have to have some sort of explanation."

"Oh," Winry replied, for lack of a better response.

Al had already opened the package and was about to start distributing its contents, but Mustang said, "Just get out the train tickets for now; you can give out the rest later. You need to hurry so you don't miss the train headed for the East." Al nodded, stuffing the pack in his suitcase after rummaging in it for the tickets.

Ed and Rina were already headed towards the door, Winry right behind them. Al caught up on the way out, then glanced back at Mustang and Hawkeye. "You aren't coming?" he asked.

"We can't have passengers on your train seeing us wishing you off; they might get suspicious about who you really are," Hawkeye replied, not looking up from her work. "Have a safe trip."

"Uh, yeah, thanks," Al responded, then hurried to catch up to the others.

"What time is on the tickets?" Ed asked as they pushed out of the double doors and headed into the bustling streets of Central.

Al pulled one of the tickets out of his pocket and scanned it for the time, then said, startled, "Seven o'clock."

"What?" Ed asked. "What time is it now?"

Rina pulled her long sleeve up and checked her watch, exclaiming, "It's close to six forty five now!"

"Damn the Colonel!" Ed yelled, nobody bothering to correct him. "We need to run to get there on time!" Having said this, Ed broke out into a full out run, heading towards the outskirts of the city. Rina was hard on his heels, but Winry, not used to running, and Al, being the shortest, struggled to keep up.

Just as they reached the train station, the clock tower in the center of the city chimed, announcing that it was seven o'clock. "Hurry!" Ed called behind him, slowing down momentarily to grab Winry's wrist and pull her forward with him. His hand was warm and firm, definitely not his automail limb, and the contact with him made Winry flush slightly.

Now they were on the platform, their train pulling away with the steady, rhythmic sound of the tires squealing against the tracks. Rina, in the lead, jumped onto the back of the last car, reaching out to pull Al on beside her. Ed practically shoved Winry forward into the waiting arms of Al and Rina before bounding on after her.

"Geez, we almost missed it!" Al gasped, completely out of breath. Winry couldn't even speak she was panting so hard, but Ed and Rina looked almost unfazed.

"We'd better go inside," Rina suggested. "It's probably warmer there, too."

Winry nodded in agreement, as did Al. Ed didn't make any more to agree or object, so Rina went ahead and opened the door. Since she was behind it as it opened on them, Al led the way inside, then Ed, followed by Winry, and Rina closed the door behind the four of them.

The car was nearly empty; only a middle-aged man and an old couple were there, all of them seated near the front. They looked up when Winry and the others came in, but soon returned to whatever it was they were doing before. Ed chose the farthest seats back, sitting with Winry as Al and Rina slid in the seats across from them.

"Do you have the package from the Colonel?" Ed asked his brother.

"Yeah," Al answered. He dug the pack out of his suitcase and gave everyone their assorted papers before studying the papers that belonged to him.

"I guess I'm Marisa Wellington now," Rina announced, an amused expression on her face. "I came to the East with my friends–you guys–because my parents left the country on business and I needed to stay with someone. But Marisa is a dull name; you can call me Risa."

"That's like Colonel Riza Hawkeye's first name," Winry observed.

"I'm John Emerson," Al announced. "Apparently I came to the East with my older brother because our parents passed away and we have some distant relatives out here. Well, at least this means Ed and I are still brothers."

"You two look too similar to _not_ be brothers," Rina pointed out, her lips turned up slightly at the corners. "How about you, Winry?"

"I'm Elli Morley, a mechanic looking for work in the East," Winry said dryly, scanning her papers. "Oh, there's something else, too. I'm looking after Ed's automail and I'll be pretending to be his…_what_?"

"What?" Al asked, frowning as Winry gaped at the paper in front of her.

"Ed, want to help us out here?" Rina prompted when Winry made no sign of saying anything.

Ed was looking over his own sheet. "Jason Emerson, older brother to John, came to stay with distant relatives, blah, blah, blah…" He froze as he read another line, presumably the one that Winry had read. "Boyfriend to Elli Morley?" His voice was incredulous as he read it out loud. "Who made these?"

"Colonel Hawkeye, like always; right Al?" Rina answered, looking to Al for confirmation. He nodded.

Winry finally decided that she couldn't make up her mind whether or not she liked the sound of being Ed's girlfriend. Of course, it wouldn't be real at all, but she could at least pretend it was. She made a mental note to thank Colonel Hawkeye later for writing their parts like this.

"I can't believe this!" Ed exclaimed.

"What, you can't stand the idea of me being your girlfriend?" Winry asked indignantly.

"You're happy about this?" Ed asked, his tone and face bewildered.

"I didn't say that," Winry argued.

"Then do you like it or not?" Ed retorted. "You can't have it both ways."

"Aaaw, you guys are already acting like an old married couple!" Rina gushed, holding her clasped hands in front of her. "It's so cute!"

"We are not!" Winry said defensively, feeling her cheeks warm up.

"Yeah, who'd ever want to be with this mechanical geek for the rest of his life?" Ed asked.

"What did you say, alchemy nerd?" Winry questioned, her voice dangerously low as she glared at him.

"Nothing," Ed muttered, averting his eyes.

"Yeah, I thought so," Winry told him, then returned to looking through her papers. Once she had read them enough times that she was certain she could remember it if asked, she turned to the lavender journal she had been given. It was thick, with a lock on the side of it, a small key attached, and a pen stuck in a holder along the binding. She flipped through the pages after unlocking the journal; they were plain with no noticeable features, so she locked it again and stuck it in her suitcase with her papers.

"We'll have to burn those papers later," Rina was saying when Winry realized the others were talking. "If anyone found them, it would be bad news."

Al and Ed were nodding in agreement, and Winry was surprised to find herself nodding with them. "Elli, are you nervous?" Ed asked, smirking.

It only took a moment for Winry to register that Ed was talking to her. "Not at all, Jason," she replied confidently, then let a sly smile creep onto her face. "I mean, _darling_."

Ed looked like he was about to start another argument with her, but seemed to think better of it and turned his gaze towards the rolling green fields outside of the train, Central already far behind them.

"Risa, do you want me to get you something to eat or drink?" Al asked a woman with a rolling cart entered near the front of the car and started talking to the elderly couple.

"Tea would be nice, John," Rina replied, her chin resting on her fist, elbow on top of the armrest.

Al nodded, and the woman with the cart made her way towards them, smiling. "Can I get you kids anything?" she asked. She seemed to be staring at Winry, who quickly looked down, but then she realized that the woman was actually watching Ed with something close to awe.

"I'll have one tea please," Al said, handing money to the woman in return for a green bottle. He handed it to Risa, too absorbed in her to notice the woman. Does she recognize Ed? Winry wondered uneasily. After all, he and Al did ride trains a lot when they were looking for the Philosopher's Stone.

"Sir, can I get you something?" the woman asked Ed with the utmost politeness.

Ed turned to look at her and smiled. "Do you have any water?" he asked.

"Of course," the woman answered, flustered. It was then that Winry realized that she didn't recognize Ed as the Full Metal Alchemist; she just thought he was handsome. She felt a flood of relief wash over her that they weren't exposed, but also a sort of irritated feeling. Why did this random person think she stood a chance with Ed?

"Thanks," Ed said, reaching over Winry to accept the proffered bottle of water from the woman, and handing her the money in return.

"Is that all?" the woman asked, and Winry could detect the note of disappointment in her voice. She resisted the urge to snort out loud at her pathetic attempts to stay near Ed and glared resentfully out of the window.

"Yes, thank you," Al answered.

The woman left them, her cart groaning as it wheeled over the carpet back towards the front of the car. Once she was gone, Winry glanced at Ed. She supposed he was rather eye-catching with his golden-colored hair that glowed like a halo in the light, his amber eyes that were as warm as honey–

"What?" Ed asked uncomfortably.

Winry realized she was staring, and quickly looked away, muttering "It's nothing."

"Here," Ed said, and thrust the water bottle at her. Winry stared at it blankly for a minute before Ed sighed, and said, "I got it for you. Do you want it or not?"

"Oh, thank you," Winry replied, taking hold of the water bottle.

"Sure," Ed responded, shrugging.

Winry took a sip of the water, then balanced it between the armrests before pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She laid her head on her knees, the sleep that she hadn't been able to grasp last night catching up to her. The buzz of her friends' conversation was silenced as a black veil fell over her senses and she slipped into a light sleep.

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**A/N Okay, so it was pretty much a filler chapter. But fear not, the action and EdWin will come soon!…I think. Actually, I really don't have this story planned out at all; I just write whatever comes to mind when I start working on the chapters. XP**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N Sorry, sorry, I know I'm not updating a lot like I had hoped and said I would be, but I've been a little bit busy (not that that's an excuse for not updating, but still). I recently finished City of Bones, and I LOVED it. I want to read its sequel sooo badly, but I have to finish my summer English project before I can get the book. T-T**

**Anyways, enough of my ramblings; onto the story! **

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Winry was woken up an hour later by Ed, gently shaking her shoulder. "Hey, wake up," he murmured. "We're here." Winry gazed up at him with sleep-bleared eyes, confused for a moment. Where was here? The sound of luggage thumping to the floor echoed around the train compartment, bringing Winry back to the present.

Glancing across from her, she saw Rina and Al pulling down their suitcases from the compartments near the roof. Winry realized the train wasn't moving anymore either, and turned to look out the window, wincing as she shifted position. Her back and legs were sore from sleeping like that for so long; she made a mental note not to do that again.

The window was pushed all the way down, giving a clear view of the train station they were in. It was a crowded place, filled with people who were trying to leave and enter the station, board and exit the trains. The lighting was a little dim, some of the lights flickering overhead to cast odd shadows against the walls.

"Come on, Winry," Ed said, breaking Winry out of her reverie. "We have to get going."

"Ah, sorry," Winry apologized, reaching up to lift her luggage out of the compartment. She followed Ed, Al, and Rina as they led the way down the train's aisle, then into the dense crowd, which was no better outside the station. She nearly lost sight of them twice, but each time, Ed would grasp her wrist with a guiding hand until they were in an area with less people.

"Where are we going, exactly?" Winry called to Al, who seemed to be leading their small party a few feet ahead.

"First we're going to Aster Avenue, apartment building 204," he answered, and Winry thought how unusual it was for his normally quiet, shy voice to come out as a shout so that he could be heard above the crowd.

"Is it far?" Ed asked, coming to stand beside Al with Winry right behind him.

"Not really," Al replied with a shrug. "Just down the street."

"Remember everyone, we're going by our assumed names now," Rina breathed, so quietly that Winry wasn't even sure she had heard her.

"Of course," Ed whispered back, just as silent, while Al and Winry nodded.

Winry quickly went over the made up information in her head: Rina was now Marisa, Risa for short, and a friend just coming with them while her parents were away. Al was John, brother to Ed, who was under the name of Jason, and they were moving to the East because their parents had passed away; that shouldn't be too hard to remember. She herself was Elli, a mechanic looking for work with her boyfriend, Ed–no, Jason. She felt her heart skip a beat and involuntarily looked at Ed. What did he think about her being his supposed girlfriend?

"We're here," Al announced, jerking Winry out of her reverie. She glanced up to see that they were standing in front of an apartment. It was a large white building, two stories high, with the overhang of the second floor hanging above the doors of the ground floor. A staircase wound up one side of the building, looking well-used and maybe even a little over-used. Blue paint trimmed the building, outlining the wood-colored doors and windows. Old, rusted numbers hung over the doors, the nearest being 102. On closer inspection, the paint was chipping in most places and dust seemed to cover everything.

"Not the best place around, but I guess it'll do," Ed muttered.

"We couldn't get something much nicer," Al pointed out. "It would seem weird for four kids to be able to afford something like that."

"True," Ed agreed thoughtfully. He started up the stairs, Winry following immediately, and Al and Rina behind them after a moment's hesitation. "Number 204, right, John?"

Al looked surprised for a minute, then shook his head as if berating himself, and said, "Yes, that's the room number."

"Then it stands to reason it would be on the second floor if the first number is a two," Ed said confidently to no one in particular. When they reached the second floor, he led the way down to one of the last doors at the hall and tapped lightly on the old door before trying the handle. "It's locked," he announced, turning to the rest of them.

"That's because I have the key," Al replied, stepping up to the door with a key in his hand Winry had just noticed. He turned it in the lock of the door and pushed it open gently, standing aside for everyone else to file in silently and closing the door behind them after taking the key back.

The very first place you walked into was after a small hallway was the living room, adorned with tattered old furniture and separated from the kitchen by a single counter. There was a hall past the chair near the back that led to four other rooms; three bedrooms and a bathroom. Rina was already going through the kitchen cabinets, yelling back to them that at least there were some dishes, pots, pans, silverware, and cups.

"I'll be the cook," Rina announced, already getting some things down. "We'll have to go do some grocery shopping, though."

"Hey, how are we going to get money for stuff like food?" Winry asked nervously. "Are we all getting jobs along with doing the research?"

"I think there was something about that in the papers," Al answered uncertainly, starting to sift through his suitcase to look for the packet he had received from Mustang. "Here they are." He flipped through them until he found the one he was looking for. "We have enough money right now to last a week or two, and it looks like we're going to be sent money that is supposedly from Rina's parents every month. It also suggests that Winry gets a job since that's her reason for being here; as a mechanic looking for work. We'll be given enough money to live off, though, so you can keep it. That's what it says, anyways."

"It's settled then," Rina said with a note of finality in her voice. "Later I'll go shopping for some food with Al."

"What? Why me?" Al asked, startled.

"Someone has to come with me, and you probably know what type of food your brother and Winry like," Rina answered matter-of-factly.

"Then Winry and I will start researching while you two are out," Ed said.

"Okay," Winry agreed. "Later I'll have to start asking around for work."

"How are we dividing the rooms?" Al asked. "I'd guess there's one large bedroom and two smaller ones."

"Easy, the boys get the large room and Winry and I each get a smaller room to ourselves," Rina replied, scribbling something down on paper.

Before anyone could agree or argue with her, there was a sharp rap on the door. Winry froze, watching as Ed and Al tensed and Rina went to answer the door, casting a quick glance back at them. However, as soon as the door opened, Ed and Al looked relaxed, Ed almost seeming bored, starting a conversation about a book Winry didn't recognize. She wondered how they could be so laidback like that before she remembered that it would seem odd to be alert just because someone knocked on your apartment door.

Winry tried to loosen her shoulders and let her expression become one of interest as she gazed around the apartment like someone who just moved in would. The pale brown wallpaper was peeling in some places and had tape holding it up in others. Dust layered the coffee table in the center of the room, which was surrounded by an armchair on either side and a couch behind it. Dark curtains blocked the light from the window, casting a pale, gloomy radiance over the room.

Rina's voice, light and cheerful, drifted to them from the front door. Then she walked into the living room a moment later, a middle-aged couple walking behind her. "These are my friends I was telling you about," Rina told them, indicating Al, Ed, and Winry with a sweep of her arm. "That's John, and next to him is his brother Jason. That over there is Elli. Everyone, these are the Dublins; they heard us coming and came to welcome us to the apartment."

"Pleased to meet you," Mrs. Dublin greeted, smiling politely. She had short brown hair matched with bright hazel eyes and a motherly smile. She was of a short and stocky build, but looked kind and gentle the way she moved. Her husband was in sharp contrast to her, tall and thin with an angular and stern face.

"The pleasure's all ours," Al replied just as politely, nodding his head to both of them in turn. "Thank you for coming out of your way to meet us."

"Oh, how sweet," Mrs. Dublin said, blushing slightly.

"What are four teenagers like you doing living by yourselves here?" Mr. Dublin asked abruptly, giving them all a hard, suspicious glare. Teenagers? Winry thought, glancing at Al. Then again, at first glance, she supposed he did look older with his gold-brown hair and mature attitude.

"Dear!" Mrs. Dublin scolded quietly.

"That's alright, we don't mind" Rina told them with a wan smile. "I'm staying with my friends while my parents are away on a business trip. John and Jason…" She trailed off, suddenly looking down at her feet with a sad, almost mournful, expression. Winry just barely remembered to avert her eyes uncomfortably from their guests as Al's smile faltered and Ed's vanished completely.

"Our parents passed away in an accident," Al murmured. "We came to the East looking for a place to live; we have no other relatives."

"I'm so sorry," Mrs. Dublin murmured, her hand half-covering her mouth.

"I'm here looking for work," Winry quickly interjected, trying to change the topic. Even though Ed and Al's parents hadn't just passed away, it must have brought up bitter memories for them. "There weren't many job opportunities for me as a mechanic in the city where I came from."

"Don't look like a mechanic to me," Mr. Dublin muttered to himself, receiving a sharp nudge from Mrs. Dublin in return.

"Why not try Central?" Mrs. Dublin suggested helpfully. "It must be fairly easy to get a job there. Or Rush Valley; that place is one of the best for mechanics to gather."

"Central is a little too crowded and busy for my tastes," Winry replied, thinking quickly. "And because there are so many mechanics in Rush Valley, it's hard to find an open job when I'm competing against so many experienced people."

Mrs. Dublin nodded her head sympathetically. "So did all of you know each other before you came here, or did you just happen to meet on the way?"

"No, we all knew each other ahead of time," Rina answered. "I've been friends with Elli since we were kids, and she introduced me to her boyfriend, Jason, and his brother, John, about a year ago."

Ed jerked his head away from where he had been staring out the window, which Winry noticed he seemed to do a lot, when the word boyfriend was mentioned. Luckily, Mr. and Mrs. Dublin were too busy listening to Rina tell a made-up story of how they met and didn't notice him. Winry tried to catch his eye, but he wouldn't look her way.

"Well, it was wonderful meeting you," Mrs. Dublin told them, clapping her hands once in front of her. "You'll have to come down to our room sometime for dinner. Oh, that's right, we're room number 105; feel free to stop by any time."

"Thank you for the offer," Al replied. "We might be busy for a little while, though. We're going to look around town and try to find a job for Elli."

"Well, you just be sure to give us a call when you're ready," Mrs. Dublin told them. Mr. Dublin was watching Ed, wearing a thoughtful look that made Winry uneasy.

Ed seemed to noticed, because he asked, "Is something wrong?"

"You haven't talked the entire time we've been here," Mr. Dublin stated, narrowing his eyes. "And I have the feeling I've seen you somewhere."

Ed was spared having to answer when Mrs. Dublin cut in. "I'm sure he's just upset about his parents and nervous being in a new city like this."

"He doesn't look nervous or upset to me," Mr. Dublin retorted. Mrs. Dublin rolled her eyes, smiled at the others, and started leading her husband out of the door.

"Please come by again!" Rina called after them, closing the door as they left. She breathed a huge sigh of relief as she came back into the living room. "That husband sure was suspicious."

"Yeah, but I think we acted pretty well," Al said thoughtfully. "What do you think, Ed?" Ed was still staring out the window, his expression contemplative and looking like he was trying to remember something.

"Is staring out of windows all you ever do anymore, Ed?" Winry asked dryly.

"Mr. Dublin," Ed said abruptly. "He looks familiar. Al, did we ever meet him in the military?"

"We might have," Al answered reluctantly after a long pause.

"You and Winry should dig around and find out," Rina suggested, sitting down on one of barstools pulled up to the kitchen counter. "Who knows; if he was ever well-known in the military and had a rank of Major or higher, he might be next."

"Well, at least it looks like we have nothing to fear from them," Winry put in.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Ed said, his tone serious. "You can never tell if someone is acting or truly are who they say they are. After all, look at us."

"You don't have to be so pessimistic all the time," Winry muttered. "You're just over thinking things."

"Over thinking things isn't always a bad thing when you're in the military," Ed replied, looking at Winry with that penetrating gaze that made her feel as if he could see right through her like glass. "It's saved our lives more than a few times. Remember, Winry; the people around you aren't always who you think they are."

"And you?" Winry countered. "Do I know who you are?"

Ed flashed his teeth in that grin of his; the one that showed pain and sadness but seemed to be laughing at the world, daring it to challenge him, at the same time. "Maybe you don't, Winry. Maybe you don't."

Rina and Al, who had disappeared briefly when Ed and Winry started talking, returned just as Winry was about to ask him what he meant by that. "Okay, time to start moving," Rina told them. "I'm going to the store with Al; you two better head out too."

"Right, right," Ed replied, heading to the door after his brother and Rina. He glanced back when Winry didn't follow. "Are you coming?"

"Uh, right," Winry said, hurrying to catch up as the others left. Ed's words kept echoing in her head, even as she tried to drown them out. What had he meant when he said that maybe she didn't know him?

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**A/N Yaaay, it's done! 2, 943 words isn't too bad if I don't say so myself. ^.^**

**I actually got City of Ashes and finished it recently, even though I didn't finish my project yet (I wrote the first A/N a few days ago and don't feel like changing it) and it was as awesome as the first. Now I am awaiting the chance to get the third one, City of Glass. :D**

**Please review~!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N I have finished City of Glass. While I loved it immensely, I'm extremely sad that I've finished it because now the Mortal Instruments series is over. T-T**

**It seems like I say this every time I update, but sorry for the long wait! I've been working on my original story lately, not to mention working on my summer project, Crossing Paths, and reading City of Glass. And on that note; enjoy!**

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"Elli," Ed said in exasperation for perhaps the sixth time that day. "Are you even trying?" He dropped a stack of books on the desk in front of Winry, who jerked back in surprise.

"I'm not used to researching like you and John," Winry retorted, remembering to use Al's alias. She was starting to get used to their fake identities, though it still took her a few times to realize that when someone was calling Elli, they were calling for her. "Where do you even begin?"

Ed sighed as he sat down next to her, dragging a book towards him. He flipped it open to the back and looked up a name, then went to the page that was listed. "You _begin _with the name of the person I give you," he answered, scanning the page quickly. "You take notes on things that seem important about them, like what they were known for, their rank, their specialties, etcetera. It isn't that hard."

"Just because you're in a bad mood doesn't mean you should take it out on me," Winry muttered, bending her head over her own book. Ed said nothing in response. They had been to this library every other day for the past two weeks, with nothing of any interest surfacing. When they didn't come, Rina and Al did, but with the same results; in that there were no results.

Winry had also been asking around for work, Ed never far behind, but had yet to come up with anything. Which was fine as far as she was concerned; as much as Ed complained about how she didn't know what she was doing whenever they came to the library, she could tell he was happy for the company.

Rina, Winry had found, was an excellent cook. Al had taken to watching her as she cooked, offering to help her and usually being turned down on the reason that boys couldn't cook to save their lives. Al was the one who went to the grocery store with Rina when they needed food, but usually he just held the basket as she picked out what needed to be bought. It led to something else that Winry had noticed: whenever any of them went out, it was always in pairs and always with the same person; Winry with Ed, and Rina with Al. So far, the pattern hadn't been broken.

"Elli," Ed repeated, a tinge of irritation in his voice. "You're spacing out again."

"Sorry," Winry replied, picking up a pen and randomly jotting something down in her notebook in an attempt to appear busy. Glancing over it, she saw she had written 'Colonel Avalier disappeared in the year 1921; since then, no one has seen or heard anything about him.' Winry stared at it for a minute, then glanced back at the page. She had meant to look up Major Awling, but must have gone to the page number listed above his.

Sighing, Winry was about to close the book when something on the page caught her eye. It was a picture of the Colonel, depicting him as a tall, thin, but muscular, man with a sword extended in a heroic pose. His face was very angular, especially around the cheekbones, and he had the strict face of a commanding officer. Something about him looked familiar to her, and she started to read the page.

'Colonel Avalier was an officer known for his ideas about reforming the army and the secret code he created, gathering many followers under his command. However, some of his visions for the future were too radical, and the army eventually told him to stop campaigning when he started to drag the army's name through the mud. He declared that the army had no right to silence him, but before he could do anything, Colonel Avalier disappeared in the year 1921; since then, no one has seen or heard anything about him.'

"Hey, Jason," Winry suddenly said after jotting down what she had just read. "Isn't 1921 the year you disappeared and Al got his body back?"

"I didn't disappear; I went to the other side of the Gate," Ed muttered. "What about it?"

"This Colonel, Colonel Avalier, disappeared that year too."

"So?"

"Maybe there's a connection," Winry replied, though her tone was uncertain. Somehow, this had sounded much more logical in her head.

"Elli, a lot of people disappear every year," Ed sighed. "Just because two happened to disappear the same year doesn't mean anything. Besides, was Avalier even on the list?"

"No," Winry replied reluctantly.

Another sigh. "You need to stay on topic," Ed told her. "The sooner we get this done, the better."

"Aren't you the one who said I shouldn't come in the first place?" Winry snapped. "Don't tell me what to do if you don't even want me here. I'm going to make a copy of something." Without another word, Winry picked up the book and went to the copier in the back room. To say she was disappointed when Ed didn't follow her or call her name would've been an understatement.

In the back room, Winry made a copy of the photo of Colonel Avalier, making it smaller so that it would fit in her notebook. When she returned to where Ed was sitting, he was reading a book so deeply that he didn't even notice when she sat down. At least, Winry told herself that was the reason he didn't notice her.

Two hours of unbearable silence later, Ed suggested that they stop there for the day, rubbing his hands against his eyes tiredly. "We're not going to get any farther today," he said.

"Why do you think that?" Winry asked, returning some books to their shelves.

Ed snorted. "We've been making such good progress up until now, I figured we'd better stop while we're ahead," he replied dryly. "Plus, the library is going to close soon; it's almost dark."

Winry resisted the urge to retort a sharp reply; she didn't want to get into another fight with him right now. She picked up her notebook and pen, stuffed them in her bag, and waited while Ed did the same. He led the way out of the vast, hardly used library and onto the street outside, not even glancing back to make sure Winry was still behind him.

"Oh, Miss Elli!" someone called from one of the stores lining the street. She looked over at the store, immediately recognizing it as the place she had first applied to for a job as a mechanic. It was a small, but nice store, with updated automail equipment that made Winry feel like her tools back home were nothing but rusted old scrap metal.

Mr. Roberts stood in front of the store, waving her down. He had a hawk-like face with a tiny pair of glasses perched on the end of his nose, his build stocky. Winry dodged through the crowd towards him, excitement rushing into her. "Yes Mr. Roberts?" she asked, coming to stand in front of him.

"I have reviewed your application," Mr. Roberts started. "And I have decided that you would work well as my assistant."

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Roberts!" Winry said excitedly. "You won't regret this decision, I promise!"

Mr. Roberts merely grunted in response. "You start tomorrow morning at eight," he told her, then disappeared back into his shop. Winry was practically bouncing on her feet when she realized that Ed was nowhere to be seen.

"Jason?" she called, starting to make her way through the crowd to where she had last seen Ed. "Jason?" After making sure that Ed really wasn't anywhere nearby, she started to head back to the apartment, knowing that's where he would be headed.

The streets weren't nearly as crowded as they were during the day, though still sizable enough to be troublesome. As the sun started to dip below the horizon behind Winry, even more people started to leave the streets. Ten minutes later, the street was nearly empty and Winry was halfway home.

Winry shivered as she felt her neck prickle with the feeling that someone was watching her. Glancing back, she saw no one. Still, she quickened her pace as the feeling persisted. The sound of footsteps made Winry start and spin around to see a tall man who had not been there two minutes ago walking towards her. He wore a gray hat that was pulled down to cover his face, and the clothes he wore were dark.

There was something about him that made Winry know to run, even before he broke into a sprint after her. Winry dashed down the street, hearing the relentless pound of footsteps behind her, getting louder every second. She turned left down the next street, thinking, only another block to go, when she felt someone grab the back of her shirt and pull her back.

Winry landed hard on her back, gasping as pain shot up her head. Before she could even move, the man was over her, a knife held against her throat. "You make a single noise, and I'll slit your throat," he growled. "What are you and your friends doing here?"

Winry just lay there, panting from the run, her mind whirling. "Nothing," she finally said. "We just moved here, we're trying to make a living." She hoped that didn't sound like an outright lie, but it was hard to tell through the pain of her aching head.

"Don't lie to me," the man snarled, digging the knife into Winry's skin. Then he was gone, and Ed stood in front of her. She felt confused for a moment, quickly replaced by relief as she realized what was going on.

"Elli, can you stand?" Ed asked, his voice tense.

"Y-yeah," Winry stammered, pulling herself into a sitting position. A mist of pain clouded her head from where she had landed on it from the fall, but she pushed it aside and stood up on shaking legs.

"Who are you?" Ed asked menacingly, staring at the man who had attacked Winry, standing a few feet away. The man turned and took off at a run as he saw the dangerous glint in Ed's eye. "Wait!" Ed took a step forward as if he meant to follow, then glanced back at Winry.

"Go," Winry told him urgently, unable to think why he would pause. "This is our chance to find something out."

Ed nodded hesitantly and shot off after the man, calling over his shoulder, "Get home and tell the others what happened!"

Winry watched him go until he disappeared around a corner, then slowly, painfully made her way to the apartment. Her head felt like it was about to split open, but somehow she made it to their front door. She felt around in her jacket pocket for her key, but it was empty. I must have dropped it earlier, she thought gloomily.

Forced to knock on the door, Winry waited until either Al or Rina came to the door. A few minutes passed and no one came. She raised her fist to knock again, and only then remembered that Rina had said she'd be going out with Al to look around the military building in this city and wouldn't be back until late that night. Groaning, Winry banged her head in frustration against the door, instantly regretting it as the pain returned.

Footsteps made Winry jerk away from the stairs in apprehension, but she sighed with relief as Ed appeared, panting and with something grasped in his hand. "What are you still doing outside?" he asked.

"I must have dropped my key earlier, and Al and Rina aren't home," Winry mumbled, looking down at her feet.

Ed sighed, but Winry couldn't tell if it was in exasperation or relief. "What happened back there?" Ed asked, unlocking the door and pushing it open for Winry. "One minute you were right behind me, and the next, you were gone."

"Mr. Roberts called and told me I got the job," Winry answered, sitting down on the couch. "I tried looking for you after that, and when I didn't find you, I headed to the apartment. Then I was being chased by that guy and he asked what we were doing here. I told him we just moved here and were trying to make a living, but he didn't believe me." Winry shrugged. "You know what happened after that."

Ed sat down on the couch next to her, twisting the thing in his hand. Now that they were in the light, Winry saw that it was a piece of crumpled up paper. "I chased that guy, but I couldn't catch him. He dropped this along the way, though; it looks like a coded message. I can't read it." Shaking his head, Ed handed the paper to Winry to look at.

The paper was covered in odd shapes that Winry couldn't make heads or tails of, no matter what way she turned the paper to look at it. "Are you okay?" Ed asked, gazing at Winry.

"I'm fine," Winry replied. The pain in her head had been reduced to a dull throb, so she wasn't completely lying. "Thanks for…"

"Yeah," Ed said. He abruptly stood up and went into the kitchen. He was back a moment later with a small white box that Winry recognized as the first aid kit.

"I told you I'm fine," Winry objected as he sat back down facing her.

"You're bleeding," Ed told her. He opened the box and took out a rag, starting to wipe at Winry's neck where the man's knife had pressed against her. He was so close to Winry that she could have leaned forward and kissed him. The thought instantly made her blush as Ed put a bandage on the cut, closing the box as he did so.

"Thanks," Winry told him, looking him in the eyes despite how much she wanted to look away. Suddenly, Ed was blushing as he closed the box and headed back into the kitchen, mumbling something that sounded like "No problem." Winry watched him go with surprise, wondering why Ed would ever have a reason to blush like that.

* * *

**A/N Yay, an update! Now I'm going to go see if I can update Crossing Paths now too. XD**

**Oh, and just fair warning, I suck at action scenes, so this chapter was a bit hard and sort of…bad. '- '**

**~ Please review! **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N Sorry for the wait (again)! My computer broke down for a week, then I went on vacation for a week and updated Crossing Paths only because of the deadline, and then I was sick for a few days, and then…band camp, the horror of my summer. T-T **

**I have real excuses this time! XP**

**Anyways, just a warning, since school is starting in like two days, I might not update much. Not that I have been, but I'm telling you now to expect long waits.**

* * *

"Hey, Ed, do you know when Al and Rina will be back?" Winry asked, trying to come up with something to say. After coming back from the kitchen, Ed had been silently watching the front door with thoughtful eyes; Winry could almost see the gears turning in his head as he tried to piece something, presumably something to do with the mission, together.

"Mmm?" Ed mumbled, turning to Winry as if just realizing that she was talking to him. "I dunno. They said they'd be back sometime later tonight after checking this town's military base. They didn't say specifically."

"Obviously," Winry replied, rolling her eyes. Her gaze shifted to the kitchen, something that had become almost a habit when she was looking for or thinking about Al and Rina. For some reason they spent a lot of time there. It always seemed like they had a lot of fun, but there seemed to be some kind of underlying tension between them, too. "I just hope they're okay."

---

"Quiet down back there," Rina hissed behind her at Al. He was about to say something in reply, then thought better of it and just nodded. They continued to creep forward, staying in the shadows cast by the tall military building they had come to scout out.

Rina froze as a security guard passed not five feet in front of them around the corner. Al held his breath until the uniformed officer moved on, a bored look on his face. "We could move a lot easier if we had uniforms," Al commented, his voice barely a whisper.

They darted forward through the pitch black darkness of night and crouched behind the stairs leading up to the entrance of the building. Rina poked her head over the edge and glanced left and right, then lifted herself over the edge and, still in a crouch, scurried through the doors with Al close on her heels.

Al watched Rina as she silently closed the doors behind them, waiting behind a large pillar for her to catch up. A sliver of moonlight caught in her dark red hair, making it look almost like a shining halo. Her steps were graceful as she drifted back behind another pillar directly across from him.

Al shook his head slightly as she signaled for him to go; he couldn't think about something like that right now. Ever since they had come to this town, he had noticed something about Rina that he hadn't before. She always seemed cheerful enough, but there was something that seemed to be separating her from the rest of them. Almost like she didn't want to get close to them for some reason.

"Al, are you gonna go, or not?" Rina asked from across the hall, her irritated voice ringing in the silence.

"Sorry," Al apologized quietly, running down the first hallway that branched off from the main one. He barely heard Rina's footsteps that announced that she was following him.

Al stopped abruptly as he caught sight of a marked door, causing Rina to crash into him and sending them to the floor with a thud and a muffled "Oof!"

"Ouch, what was–?" Rina started, then cut off, blushing fiercely. Al was laying on his back, Rina directly on top of him with her hands on his chest, their faces barely inches away. From this angle, Al could clearly see the way Rina's pale blue eyes deepened in the center, giving her a more saddened, wise look.

"Are you okay?" Al asked, resisting the urge to brush her bangs out of her eyes.

"I–I'm fine," Rina quickly replied, scrambling up and off Al. "Why'd you stop?" she asked suddenly, not making eye contact. She glanced at the door Al had been looking at and her face brightened as she understood. "I bet there'd be a lot of information in the filing room."

Al slowly stood up, watching as Rina darted over to the filing room door and cautiously peered inside. But the lights were off and there wasn't a sound to be heard. Rina tried to turn the doorknob, then silently cursed when it wouldn't open. "Al, you know how to pick a lock?"

"I could try," Al suggested, coming to stand next to her. He leaned down, peering at the lock. "Do you have a pin or something I could use?"

Rina reached up and pulled a bobby pin from her hair, handing it to Al. He took it and bent it so that it was one long piece of wire, then expertly twisted it in the lock. After a few moments, there was a satisfying clicking sound.

"Wow, you're pretty good at that," Rina commented mildly.

"Brother and I used to sneak into places all the time," Al admitted. "Sometimes we couldn't use alchemy to do it because it would draw too much attention, so we learned how to do this."

Rina laughed softly. "Before I joined the military, my sister and I would've never _dreamed_ of picking locks," she said, smiling slightly, but her eyes were unfocused, seeing something that Al could never even begin to touch.

"I didn't know you had a sister," Al said, looking up at Rina, who stood slightly above him as he crouched down in front of the door. "The way you speak, it sounds like you two are close."

Rina snapped back to the present, her eyes hardening. "That's none of your business," she snapped, pulling open the door and marching inside without a backwards glance.

Al sighed; it seemed like she always acted like that when he started to get to know her. _It's like she hates me_, he thought sadly, his eyes following her as she moved between the aisles of filing cabinets. Standing, he entered the room and closed the door behind him quietly, studying the room.

It was large, with row upon row of cabinets lined up in the center of the room and pushed up against the walls. Tables were scattered here and there, most of them piled high with papers and documents. There were no windows, making the room even darker.

"We need to turn on the lights," Al said after a momentary pause.

"If we do that, someone might see us," Rina argued.

"If we don't, we won't be able to read anything anyways," Al retorted.

Rina hesitated, then reluctantly nodded. "Alright then, but we have to be quick in here."

Feeling along the wall, Al brushed the light switches up. The lights overheard flickered briefly with light, then blinked out. "Now what?" Rina asked irritably. "If we can't see, we can't do anything."

"We should have brought a flashlight," Al mused.

Rina sighed, heading back for the door. "Look, we know where this place is," she pointed out. "We'll come back tomorrow with flashlights, like you said."

"Alright," Al agreed reluctantly, glancing around. There was something about this place that didn't feel quite right to him; there was a kind of wrathful aura hanging around. He couldn't describe it well, but there was definitely an ominous feeling in the air. Casting a quick sideways glance at Rina, he was surprised she hadn't noticed it; either that or she had, but wasn't showing any sign of it.

Even as Rina and Al ran through the dark shadows of midnight, he couldn't shake the feeling that something very bad was about to happen…and that someone was watching them.

---

"There you are!" Winry exclaimed as Al and Rina walked through the front door of their apartment.

"We're back," Al replied wearily.

"How did it go?" Ed asked, pushing himself off from the wall he had been leaning against.

"We need to go back tomorrow for more information," Rina said shortly, not looking at anyone. "I'm going to bed; it was a long night." Without another word, she walked off down the hall. Her back and shoulders were straight, but she gave off the impression of being utterly exhausted.

"You wanna explain that?" Ed asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly. Winry was gazing after Rina in confusion, and made as if to get up, but Al stopped her with a tired wave of his hand.

"She's just in a bad mood because we couldn't find anything out tonight," he explained, feeling slightly guilty. He was telling part of the truth; well, the part of the truth he knew, anyways. In reality, he really didn't know what was upsetting Rina.

Sitting down on the couch next to Winry, Al recounted what had happened at the military base, leaving out his "trip" with Rina. When he was done, Ed sighed and told him what had happened with Winry.

"She was attacked?" Al asked in astonishment, looking from Ed to Winry. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Winry answered absently. "At least I got the job; now we won't look so suspicious."

"If our cover isn't already blown," Ed muttered.

Winry gave him a glare, then stood up. "I'm going to bed," she announced. "I have to get up early tomorrow for work."

Ed looked like he was about to say something, but held back until Winry had left the room. There was a soft click that announced she had shut her door, and Ed slumped down onto the couch next to Al.

"Is something wrong?" Al asked.

"I don't know what to do about her," Ed muttered, gazing up at the ceiling. "It's like she doesn't even realize what's going on…how much danger she's in."

"Winry will be Winry," Al replied with an attempt at humor, giving a laugh that sounded hollow even to him.

There was a long pause before Ed spoke again. "I think someone knows that we aren't just four kids looking for a place to live," he said solemnly. "I'm not sure if they know who we really are, but they're suspicious." Another pause. "I _will_ protect Winry."

Al looked at his brother in surprise. "Did something else happen?" he asked cautiously.

Ed shook his head. "I…" he trailed off, his eyes vacant as he stared at nothing, then tried again. "I don't want to lose anyone important to me anymore."

"I understand," Al murmured softly.

"And Rina?" Ed inquired abruptly.

"What?" Al asked, startled.

"What will you do about Rina?" Ed clarified carefully.

"Rina is a soldier and can take care of herself," Al answered, but he wouldn't meet his brother's eyes. "She's done stuff like this before; she knows how to fight. She isn't like Winry."

"Maybe she is in the regard that she is an important person to you," Ed said, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"She's not –"

"She's a friend," Ed interrupted. "To Winry and me. What is she to you?"

Al could only stare his brother with blank eyes. What was he talking about? Ed didn't usually act like this; what had gotten into him? Was he simply tired and speaking bluntly, or was there something he was trying to accomplish in this?

"She's…Rina is…" Al struggled, but couldn't find the right words. How _did _he describe his relationship with Rina? Not that they really had one, of course, but he felt a strange compulsion to help and protect her.

"When you find your answer, you can tell me then," Ed finally said when it appeared that Al wasn't going to answer. "For now, I'm going to go get some sleep; the girls' had the right idea there."

Al watched as Ed disappeared inside their shared room, then suddenly remembered something. Standing up, he walked down the hall to one of the smaller bedrooms and knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked again.

"What is it?" came a muffled, but irritable call from the other side of the door.

"It's Al," Al said. There was a pause, then the door suddenly swung open in front of him.

"What do you want?" Rina demanded, standing in the doorway. Her dark red hair looked disheveled already, and her pajamas hung around her loosely, as if they were too big for her.

"I wanted to apologize for earlier, at the military base," Al said, then quickly continued when he saw Rina's uncomprehending expression. "For stopping so suddenly and making you fall."

"Oh," Rina replied, her cheeks becoming as red as an apple. "It's fine; that was nothing."

"Please let me make it up to you," Al insisted.

"Why?" Rina asked, surprised. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"If there had been guards around, we could've been caught because of the noise," Al argued. "We just got lucky."

"Fine; what is it you want to do?" Rina conceded, though her eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"I want to make you a promise," Al answered.

"Go on," Rina said after a long pause. "What is this promise of yours?"

"I give you my word that I will protect you," Al swore. "And that if you ever need anything, I will always be here if you need me."

* * *

**Aaaw, AlxRina moment. XD**

**Again, I'm reeeaaally sorry for taking such a long break. I got obsessed with reading Tsubasa (an amazing series, for those of you who don't know) this past week, and let my writing fall behind. :(**

**Well, school starts the tenth for me, so…say good bye to summer vacation. T-T**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N Gah, sorry again! Everything's been so busy lately. *-***

* * *

"Elli, we've got another customer!" Mr. Roberts called from the front of the store.

"Coming!" Winry replied, rushing out of the back room with an automail arm still gripped in one hand. "Oh, Mr. and Mrs Dublin."

"Elli, what are you doing here?" Mrs. Dublin asked in surprise.

"I found a job here," Winry explained. "It's good work and it pays well. I'm learning new things every day."

"Well that's just wonderful, dear," Mrs. Dublin congratulated her warmly. Winry smiled; their neighbor was always so nice to them. Mr. Dublin stood slightly behind his wife, a bored look on his face. It was only the second time Winry had seen him, but something about him looked familiar; and not from the last time she had seen him either.

"What can I help you two with?" Winry asked, glancing over her shoulder to where Mr. Roberts was pointing out something to another customer.

"We're just looking for a…what was it again, dear?" Mrs. Dublin asked her husband.

"An S67 part," Mr. Dublin answered gruffly.

Winry looked at him in confusion. "Are you sure you have the right part?" she asked. "That's used in more advanced machinery. What do you need it for?"

"A project I'm working on," he replied shortly.

"Really?" Winry asked curiously. "What is it? Anything I could help you on?" She knew between doing research on the disappearing military officers and her job she didn't have much free time, but she wanted to do something like what she used to work on back home. As much as she learned from work, she still missed working on automail, since most customers that came in just needed parts for broken appliances.

Mr. Dublin gave her a critical look. "Why?"

"I just thought it might be interesting to have something new to work on," Winry replied with a shrug.

After a moment of consideration, Mr. Dublin finally nodded. "All right," he agreed. "It might be nice to have some help. Do you know anything about advanced automail?"

"I was working on automail before I came here," Winry answered excitedly. "I'm sure I could pick it up pretty fast. What is it exactly?"

"It's still in the experimental stages, but I wanted to create automail that covered real limbs," Mr. Dublin explained. "Almost like armor."

"But why?" Winry inquired curiously. "Automail is a replacement for people who have lost a part of their body." As Winry said this, she thought about Ed and how he was always saying that she had given him a leg to stand on. "Why would you need a substitute for something you haven't lost?"

"Not a substitute; more like an enhancer," Mr. Dublin said. "Like if you're weak, and want to be stronger. You'd be able to do more things, such as lifting heavy objects. Many jobs require strength that most people don't have, but would like to possess."

"Strength gained in such a way can never compare to real strength," Winry replied. "However, it does sound interesting. When would you want me to come by?"

"Whenever you can," Mr. Dublin responded.

"He's always locked up in his workshop working on his projects," Mrs. Dublin put in.

"I think I have some time tomorrow evening," Winry said after a thoughtful silence. "I'll be sure to stop by."

"We'll be glad to have you over," Mrs. Dublin replied happily. "As a matter of fact, why don't you have your friends come over with you? We can have dinner together."

"Sounds like fun," Winry agreed. "I'll see if they can spare an hour or two. Oh, right, I'll go ahead and get that part for you, Mr. Dublin."

Walking back to the counter, Winry shuffled through a few boxes until she found what she was looking for. Pulling out a small package with a neat label printed on the front, she set it on top of the counter and rang it up. Mrs. Dublin shuffled through her purse and handed a few crumpled bills to Winry, who carefully placed them in the cash register and handed back a few cents change.

"Be sure to come tomorrow," Mrs. Dublin told her on her way out, waving.

"Okay," Winry replied, giving a small wave of her hand in acknowledgement.

---

"What do you mean we're all going to the Dublins' tomorrow night?" Ed asked furiously. "In case you hadn't noticed, we're not here to socialize; we're on a mission."

"That's why I'm saying we should go," Winry retorted. "If someone really is keeping tabs on us, wouldn't it look more normal if we went to our neighbors' for dinner? You three hardly talk to anyone because you're always in the library or checking out some kind of information. The only reason I'm known around town is because I'm working, like an _ordinary _person would. This is to keep our cover!"

"Winry, we have more important things to do than this; we need to work fast so we can get out of here," Ed went on. "Someone's already seen through us, so it doesn't matter if they think what we're doing it ordinary or not anymore. Besides, would it really be considered normal to go over to someone's house when we barely know the people living there?"

"There's no certainty that they know who we are or what we're doing," Winry pointed out. "If we rush things, it'll only turn out badly. What do you think, Al, Rina?"

Al gave a start, then looked up at Winry, blinking his large brown eyes. Sighing, Winry knew he had been daydreaming instead of listening to the conversation. Again. Rina was hardly better, sprawled out on the couch of the living room while everyone else sat a few feet away in the kitchen.

"You both have a point," she noted, brushing aside a piece of loose hair out of her face.

"Guys, we aren't going to get anywhere like this," Winry snapped, agitated at Ed's stubbornness, at Al's apparent inability to pay attention, at Rina's indifferent attitude. She was tired of all of it, of trying to act normal and doing nothing but research and work all day. Maybe that was the real reason she wanted to help Mr. Dublin; so she could get away from all of this.

"Why don't we put it to a vote?" Ed suggested calmly, noticing Winry's foul mood. "All in favor of going?"

Winry thrust her hand in the air, joined soon after by a still indifferent looking Rina. Al bit his lip, glancing from Ed to Rina to Winry, then back to Rina again. Slowly, he, too, raised his hand.

Ed gave him a look of utter disbelief, then sighed, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. "All right, then, we'll go," Ed conceded. "But we have to be careful; we can't say anything that could give ourselves away."

"Obviously," Winry scoffed, still seething. "I'm going to my room; I have to write in my journal." No one said a word as she left the room, none of them wanting to be the person she vented her rage on.

"What's up with her?" Rina muttered as soon Winry had left.

"She's not used to this," Al explained tiredly. "She isn't like us; she's not part of the military."

"Meaning what?" Rina snapped. "That we're not sick and tired of all this too? Does she honestly think that she's the only one doing the work around here? I don't see her doing anything but dragging us down."

"Rina," Ed warned, his voice dangerously low. "Al only meant that Winry hasn't done anything like this before and doesn't know what it takes. She's been doing her best to help us with research and keep our cover by taking a job. I don't see _you_ working."

"I do my part by cooking and shopping," Rina said. "If you ask me, you're the one not doing anything. Al comes with me and helps shop, but I don't see you making any effort to do anything."

"I can't go out into public too much, or else I might be recognized," Ed defended himself.

"Ed, no one's seen you in two years; everyone thinks you're dead," Rina told him impatiently. "You're _not _going to be recognized. Besides, Al and I probably have a better chance of that happening than you do, and nothing's happened so far."

"Guys, let's just go to bed," Al interrupted tiredly. "We're all fed up and tired of this; we need a good night's rest so we can think straight. We shouldn't be fighting among ourselves."

"Al's right," Ed agreed. "In that case, I'm going to bed." Without another word, he trudged down the hall to the room he shared with Al, not looking back to see if his brother would follow.

"Look, about the other night…" Al started when he was sure Ed wouldn't be able to hear them speak.

"Don't," Rina cut him off, standing up. "Just don't. Just…stay away from me." She silently left the room, her expression unreadable.

Sighing, Al let his head fall into his hands. Everyone was so tense these days, and now, he had gotten on Rina's bad side. Ever since he had made that promise, she refused to talk to him for any length of time and more often than not went out alone. Even when they had returned to the military base to continue their search, she wouldn't even make eye contact with him. _What are we going to do now? _Al thought. _We can't go on like this._

---

The next evening found Winry, Ed, Al, and Rina standing outside of the Dublins' door. Winry was actually a little surprised that everyone had come; all day everyone had been losing their temper and bickering, resulting in conversations being avoided for the most part.

As Al reached forward to ring the doorbell, the front door swung open to show the smiling Mrs. Dublin, dressed in a formal dress that went all the way to her ankles. It made Winry wonder if maybe they should've dressed nicer too, instead of throwing on the cleanest thing nearest to them. Then again, they didn't exactly have any "nice" clothes.

"Welcome," Mrs. Dublin greeted warmly, stepping aside and waving them in. "Dinner's just about finished."

"Thank you," Winry said when it appeared no one else was going to say anything. Ed looked sulky, Rina wore a scowl on her face, and Al appeared to be spacing out again. Internally sighing, Winry wondered if they were even trying to act like nice neighbors. Usually Al would at least offer a polite response.

Mrs. Dublin led the small group to the living room, where Rina and Ed immediately took the two chairs, leaving Winry and Al to sit on the couch. Glancing from Al to Rina, Winry wondered if something was going on between them. They hadn't been acting as carefree as usual. In fact, as time had passed more and more, Rina had seemed to get even more agitated than the rest of them. Had she and Al fought about something?

"Can I get you anything to drink?" Mrs. Dublin asked, flitting between the kitchen and the living room.

"No thank you," Al replied, smiling one of his dazzling smiles. Mrs. Dublin, flushed, left the room. At least someone's getting serious about this, Winry thought appreciatively, exchanging a grateful smile with Al.

"Is Mr. Dublin here?" Winry asked Mrs. Dublin when she had returned.

"He's in his workshop in the back," she answered. "Go down that hall and the last door on the left is the one you're looking for."

"Thanks," Winry replied, standing up. She gave a quick glance behind her, wondering if it would be okay to leave everyone like they were, but Al gave her a small, reassuring smile. Knowing it was okay to leave them in Al's hands, Winry went to the door that Mrs. Dublin had told her and knocked on it twice.

"Who is it?" came the gruff reply on the other side.

"It's Elli, sir," she answered. "May I come in?"

The doorknob turned and Mr. Dublin, dressed in oil-stained jeans and a T-shirt, admitted her in. Inside of the room, tables were set up, each holding messy stacks of paper with plans strewn all over the place. The walls had detailed plans written on them, all carefully placed and explained.

"This is a nice workshop you've got," Winry commented, looking at t he stacks of boxes piled up in one corner.

"Thanks; we'd better start," Mr. Dublin said briskly, sitting down at one of the tables. "How much do you know about anatomy?"

"Enough," Winry replied, sitting across from him. As they started discussing neural reactions, Winry started to relax for possibly the first time since they had gotten in this town. Doing research and working for a place that didn't specialize in the things she knew the most about was new to her, but discussing automail put her on familiar footing and made her feel at ease.

Working in that workshop with Mr. Dublin, Winry knew that she'd come again; this place was going to become her personal escape from the outside world and, most importantly, her aggravated friends.

* * *

**Yay, I actually got this up today! You know what this means, right, guys? I've updated three times this weekend. ^.^**

**And about the parts and everything mechanical related: I don't know if any of it's real or true. I'm no engineer or anything, so I just made it up as I went along.**

**Special thanks to Setfiregirl and BloodyAphrodite, my sole reviewers of my last chapter. Thanks you two, I really appreciate the support and comments! As for everyone else: Thanks guys, I'm really feeling the love. :P**


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the wait. **_**Again**_**. Lately I've been drawing a lot, not to mention watching me some Tsubasa~ ^.^ And that's not including my normal school work, marching band, dance, etc… **

**Aaanyways, onto the story! If I'm going to end this chapter where I think I am, the story's going to start getting interesting~ I love the swirlies~ ^.^**

* * *

"Where are you going?" Ed asked irritably, raising his eyes questioningly as Winry started toward the door.

"The Dublins'," Winry answered shortly, her tool case slung over her shoulder and her hand on the doorknob of their apartment. Ed sat at the living room table, a mess of books, notes, and various papers strewn around him. He and Winry had just gotten into a fight about the research. _Again._ It was always something stupid, too, like whether this one small detail was important or not; misinformation in the books; forgetting to write something down. She just couldn't stand having Ed breathing down her neck and reproaching her for everything she did for another second longer.

"We're not done here yet," Ed reminded her, his voice clearly showing his impatience.

"Yeah? Well, I am," Winry replied. "If you're so perfect, then do it yourself! At least now I won't get in your way." Opening the door, Winry stepped out into the cool air and let the door slam shut behind her. "Geez, why can't he just leave me alone?" she muttered, pulling her coat tighter about her as a chilly wind passed her by.

Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, she walked on until she reached the Dublins' door, then knocked. "Coming!" came the muffled reply from the other side. The voice was high-pitched, so Winry assumed it was Mrs. Dublin. She proved to be correct; a moment later, the woman was ushering Winry in through the door, talking about how cold it was outside or something.

Though Winry wasn't paying much attention. Her fight with Ed that had at first left her furious was now making her feel guilty. It wasn't his fault that they were all stuck here; he was only trying to do his job to the best of his ability. And she hadn't exactly helped, yelling at him like that and leaving all of the work for him to do alone.

_Maybe I should go back…_Winry thought.

"Ah, Elli, you're here," Mr. Dublin greeted. He had just emerged from his workshop, his faded old jeans already stained with oil and grease and one of his scarred hands holding a wrench. "Good, I was just about to see if you could come over. I need your help on something."

"Sure thing," Winry replied, a sinking feeling in her stomach. She couldn't just leave after coming here; Ed would have to wait for now. She followed Mr. Dublin back into his workshop, carefully closing the door behind her. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the dim light, but she had grown accustomed to it over the past few weeks working in here.

Following Mr. Dublin to one of the tables, Winry looked over what was laid out, mainly the plans. "What is it you need me to do?" she asked.

"Here," Mr. Dublin replied, pointing at one of the plans. "I can't quite get this part right. I wonder if I wrote something wrong in the schematics…?"

Winry looked over the specified plan more carefully, noting each of the details and measurements. "Oh, right here," Winry suddenly said, indicating a small section apart from the rest. "If you adjust this here, then…"

Winry was soon lost in a world of automail and mechanics, just like she always was when she came here. Thoughts of Ed still lingered on the edge of her mind, but not enough to drag her away from her work. Surely Ed could wait for just a little while longer…

"Elli, I need to go do something," Mr. Dublin announced a few hours later, looking down at his watch. "Would you mind if I left you for a bit, or do you want to go home?"

"Oh, no, that's all right," Winry told him. "I'll wait up for you."

"Alright then," Mr. Dublin said, already halfway out the workshop door. "I'll be back in about an hour."

"Got it," Winry replied absently, already completely focused what she had been working on a minute before.

She barely heard the door close behind her with a sharp _click, _nor the ticking of the clock as nearly a half hour passed before she finally set down her completed part. It was one of the most important pieces of the prototype that she and Mr. Dublin were creating, and also one of the weakest points. It allowed the entire upper body to move, also controlling the strength in that area.

Wiping the back of her hand across her forehead, Winry smiled as she looked over the tables around the room. Most of the pieces were already finished; all that was left was to assemble them. Even that would take a little while though, maybe another day or two. She couldn't wait to see the results of all their hard work, no matter what she thought of the idea of automail for someone who didn't need it.

As she was gazing around the room, Winry's eye caught on something. On one of the messy stacks of paper had fallen over, though it was tucked so far back behind one of the filing cabinets pushed back up against the wall that she had never noticed it before. She stood and walked over to them, wondering if she should try to straighten the room up since she was done.

However, when she bent over the papers, she nearly gasped. Looking back at the door in case Mr. Dublin came back, she started shifting through the papers, looking at all of them carefully, but hurriedly in case he arrived sooner than he had said. All of them were profile sheets on the missing officers. She had read the list of names so many times that she recognized them immediately.

Winry only had to flick through the first few sheets before she realized what they all had in common. Under a section titled _Previous Commanders_, the same name was listed: Colonel Avalier. The name rang a bell, but it took a moment for her to remember that he was the officer she had accidentally looked up instead of another. But what was more interesting was the fact that his name hadn't come up when she and Ed had looked up these profiles countless times before.

Pulling her tool bag over to her, Winry shuffled through it until she picked out her notebook. It had been worn around the edges and was nearly full, but she soon found the section where she had recorded the information on Colonel Avalier. She reread the part about him wanting to change the military before abruptly disappearing, then peered at the picture; closely. Even more than before, his picture looked familiar to her. Where had she seen him before…?

Then it hit her: he looked just like Mr. Dublin. Looking back at the profiles of the missing officers, she quickly scanned the summaries, finding exactly what she had dreaded. All of them had been loyal supporters of Colonel Avalier's ideas, participating in his campaigns before he had disappeared and even continuing on with his ideals after he was gone.

Was Mr. Dublin actually Colonel Avalier? Was he gathering his supporters around him and getting ready to attack the military out of revenge, or perhaps for reform? Glancing back at the nearly completed automail, Winry had a sinking feeling in her stomach. She had to tell Ed.

Grabbing some of the profiles and the plan of what she had been working on earlier, she stuffed them in her notebook on the page with Colonel Avalier before jamming it into her bag. Practically running out of the door, she wondered if Mrs. Dublin knew about all of this. Better safe than sorry.

"Sorry, Mrs. Dublin, I forgot it was my turn to cook dinner tonight," Winry said as she hurried towards the front door. "My friends will get mad if I don't get home soon. Please give Mr. Dublin my apologies."

"Alright dear," Mrs. Dublin called after her. "I'll be sure to pass on the message."

"Thank you," Winry replied as she shut the door behind her and ran to the door of her own apartment. She fumbled as she tried to get the key to turn in the lock, not even conscious if this would look suspicious to anyone watching them or not.

As soon as the lock clicked open, she burst through the door, shutting and locking it behind her, still aware that she couldn't just leave it open for someone dangerous to come walking right in. "Ed!" she called, racing to the living room.

It was empty. The books that had earlier littered the table had been cleaned up, though there were still traces that someone had just been working there recently in the pens that were set on the table along with a few scraps of paper. Grabbing up one of the pens, Winry quickly jotted down something.

"Ed, are you here?" she asked loudly, still scribbling on the piece of paper. Setting it down, she hid her tool case under the couch, then quickly went down the hall to the boys' room. "Ed?" she asked, knocking on the door.

"Winry, what is it?" Ed grumbled groggily from the other side. "Do you know what time it is?"

"It's only nine, Ed," Winry responded, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, but since you left me to do all that work, I'm exhausted," Ed retorted. Winry felt a tinge of guilt in her stomach, but she pushed it down. If she hadn't left Ed, she wouldn't have found out about Colonel Avalier and Mr. Dublin.

"I found something really important," Winry said, her voice insistent. "Come here, you have to see it."

"Winry, this isn't another one of your automail stories, is it?" Ed sighed in exasperation. "I just want to get some sleep; can't it wait?"

"No, it isn't one of my 'automail stories!'" Winry exclaimed. "And no, it can't wait! Ed, it has to do with the missing officers! They were all–Mmff!"

Winry was jerked back as a hand clamped tightly around her mouth, pulling her back at the same time that a sharp pain hit her shoulder. She tried to scream, but the hand around her mouth was too strong; she couldn't even whimper from the flaring burst of agony in her shoulder. Trying to make some sort of sound, she kicked out at the wall, only managing to make a small thud before being pulled back again.

"Winry!" Ed exclaimed. She hadn't noticed when, but the door to Ed's room had been opened and he stood there now. His face was a mask of contorted rage as he ran forward, prepared to kick Winry's assaulter, whoever he or she was. Before he could do anything, however, another person had come up behind him.

Winry screamed, trying to warn him, but too late. The person struck Ed down, hitting him over the head with something that Winry couldn't see in the dimness of the hall. She couldn't stop the tears that started streaming down her face as she saw him lying on the floor there, motionless.

She wanted to run over to him and have him say to her that it was okay, that everything was okay. Instead, she was being dragged away by someone she couldn't see as she tried to dig in her heels. The last thing she thought was that she wished she hadn't been fighting with Ed. That if she had known that could've possibly been their last conversation they ever had together, she would have changed it.

Then, everything went dark.

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**How cliché of an ending line is that? I think it's very much so, but that's how I'm going to end it, so oh well. ^.^**

**How'd you like it? Sorry it wasn't very long, I ran out of inspiration at the end. I finally got to something interesting, though! Hooray! 8D**

**I still haven't decided how I want to end this yet. You know me and my depressing writing; I've been debating whether or not to kill a character. Shocker, isn't it? :P Guess we'll see, then. Don't worry, at least one of the pairings will survive to see the end…Maybe. :P**

**Please review and leave me some concrit~**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey again! Haha, it's only been two weeks this time~ ^.^**

**As many of you may have noticed, I went and totally revamped my profile. }:D Now it looks a little neater and has some stuff about my fics on it, like when you might be able to expect the next update (though that may not be completely accurate information). I've also added a new poll for all you Tsubasa lovers~ Isn't it depressing that the series ENDS in ONE more chapter? And my favorite character…T-T**

**Hope you guys enjoy~!**

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"Can you hand me the flashlight?" Al asked, glancing at Rina behind him. They were back at the military base, much to Rina's dislike, he assumed, but Ed was catching up on his research back at the apartment and Winry wouldn't be much help in a precarious situation like this. That left only him to go with her.

Rina tossed him the flashlight easily from where she was stationed by the door of the small room, keeping watch. Scanning the papers in front of him with the flashlight, Al was dismayed to see nothing of importance. Only files of old officers, long gone or having disappeared long before the time of the disappearances they were currently looking into.

Moving on to the next desk, he repeated the process of searching fruitlessly through the files, folders, and various scattered papers. Sighing, he threw the flashlight back to Rina, who caught it without looking at him. She seemed to be focused on something on the other side of the door's window, but not in a way that made Al worry about being discovered by anyone.

"Anything?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Al wondered how much it cost her to speak to him. He still wasn't exactly sure why she was even mad at him in the first place.

"Not yet," Al answered. "You want to try?"

"Sure," Rina replied, backing away from the door and heading to one of the cabinets. Al took her former place, careful to stay quiet in case someone passing by in the hall happened to hear him. He heard the shuffle of papers behind him as Rina searched for something he might have missed.

After a long while, when neither of them had said anything, Al asked, "So what's your sister like?"

"What?" Rina said, her voice tense.

"You said you had a sister before, right?" Al replied. "What's she like?"

Rina didn't reply. Al didn't look in her direction, either, knowing that it wouldn't be wise to push the subject if she didn't want to talk about it. Giving up on getting a response from her, Al looked out of the window again. The halls were dark, but not impossibly so, and he could clearly see down them. Still, he wasn't sure whether some flickering shadows were really just shadows or someone stalking down the hallway, about to catch and find them out.

"Kind," Rina suddenly said.

"Huh?" Al asked in surprise, looking back at Rina. He couldn't see her clearly in such a dark room, but he _did _see her rigid back and hard-set eyes as she gazed down at the papers she was sorting through, intent on her work.

"You asked about my sister, right?" Rina asked. "She was…kind. She was always looking out for me, and we hardly ever went anywhere without the other. You were right in what you said before; we were very close."

"Were?" Al echoed. "Did something happen?"

Silence. Then, "The military came. They argued with my father and mother, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. I heard the front door slam, and when my sister and I went to ask our parents what had happened, they wouldn't tell us. Later that night I went out to the store to get something, and when I came back, our house was on fire. My parents were found dead inside, but my sister was missing. I never saw her again."

"I'm so sorry," Al murmured. "I didn't know…I shouldn't have asked."

"It's okay," Rina replied softly. "It…it wasn't your fault. That was a long time ago. You and your brother were probably still living in Resembool, right? The way you always talked about it, it sounded so peaceful…"

"Maybe I could show you around some day," Al suggested. "It's a beautiful place; I'm sure you would love it. You could meet Granny Pinako, too. She's Winry's grandmother and she also took care of us after our father had left and our mother died. Brother and I also lost both of our parents."

"But you still had each other," Rina said, her voice wistful. "You said before that after your mother died you went and learned alchemy from…from…"

"Izumi," Al supplied, laughing lightly. "She was a strict one, that's for sure."

"That's right, Izumi," Rina remembered, the ghost of a smile touching her lips. "You always had the funniest stories about the time when you were training under her."

"Funny for you, maybe," Al muttered, with which Rina replied to with a laugh. He smiled, happy that Rina was loosening up a little bit. He couldn't remember the last time he had heard her laugh.

"You said you traveled with your brother after that, and you were always talking about the people you had met and the things you had done, but you never said why you started traveling," Rina went on. "Was there any particular reason?"

"We were…looking for something," Al answered hesitantly.

"Oh?" Rina asked. "What was it?"

Al didn't know how to reply. Rina had just told her about her past, terrible as it was, so he should be able to tell her about his, right? Before, when he was still searching for Ed, he had spoken to Rina a lot, talking mostly about their travels and not mentioning them trying to bring their mother back or the Philosopher's Stone at all. He couldn't even imagine what she would think of him if he told her, so he had never said _why _they were traveling. But now…

"Did you hear that?" Rina asked suddenly, her voice sharp. The inquisitive look in her gaze had disappeared, to be replaced with an alert calmness. Al froze, instinctively trying to hear anything out of the ordinary. Then he heard it: _click, click, click. _

"It sounds like someone's walking outside in the hall," Al whispered, peering out of the window cautiously. "But I don't see anyone."

"Get away from the door," Rina hissed, turning off the flashlight and sliding behind a filing cabinet that hid her from view of the door. "Hide!"

Backing away from the door quietly, Al quickly hid himself behind one of the rows of filing cabinets. He'd be safe if someone only looked through the window of the door, but if they actually came in and looked around, he'd have to be fast in avoiding them.

The sound of footsteps grew louder outside the door, then abruptly stopped. Al held his breath as he heard the creak of the door opening. There was a long pause, then a soft click as the door was shut again. The sound of footsteps receded down the hall until they disappeared altogether, neither Al nor Rina making a move for another few minutes until they were sure whoever it was had gone.

Just as Al was about to ask Rina if they should stay or head back to the apartment, a burst of shining blue electricity lit the room up like fireworks. The filing cabinets in front of Al blew back like leaves caught in a storm, crushing against Al and the wall of filing cabinets behind him. He gasped, at surprise for the sudden explosion and from the pain.

A fierce jolt of searing pain shot up his left arm, accompanied by an oppressing weight crushing his lungs, numbing that of the other cuts and bruises he had. Looking over, he saw that his arm was stuck under the weight of a filing cabinet, dented into a near unrecognizable shape, and a part of the wall that had collapsed in. Another filing cabinet was laying on top of his chest, making it almost impossible for him to breathe, let alone move. Blood was starting to seep out from both places.

"Al!" Rina yelled, clearly panicked. He had to force his mind to focus on the form of Rina on the other side of the room, perfectly safe as she stood up from where she had been hiding. It looked like the explosion hadn't touched her side of the room. _Thank goodness…she's…safe._

"Al, hold on, I'll get you out of there in a minute," Rina said, but her voice sounded faint to him. Distantly, he was aware of flashing lights and a loud alarm going off, but it wasn't registering.

"Don't waste your time on him," a voice cut through. It was deep, clearly a man's, but Al couldn't make out the shape of the person standing near the door of what had once been the filing room. "After all, he's with the people who killed your family."

"What are you talking about?" Rina asked, speaking the words that Al wanted to, but couldn't, say himself, and spinning around to face the newcomer. She was gripping a small dagger that Al had seen only once before; she had shown it to him when she was explaining that she always had it on her wherever she went so that she wouldn't be unarmed, just in case. He had forgotten about it until now.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," the man said smoothly, casually, almost. "You've always known that it was the military that killed your family, haven't you? Yet you joined them and let yourself get close to that dog of the army."

"That's a lie!" Rina declared, but her voice was uncertain and her hands shook. "He had nothing to do with it! And I joined the military so that I could search for my sister! You don't…you don't know anything!"

"Don't I?" the stranger asked, chuckling. "I know that your sister is dead with the rest of your family. If she was still alive, why hasn't she looked for you like you have been?"

"Maybe she hasn't been able to," Rina argued, backing away as the man stepped forward.

"Listen to you, trying to create a reason for everything," he laughed. "You're pathetic."

"Shut up!" Rina screamed above the wailing sirens.

"The real reason you joined the military was because you wanted revenge, wasn't it?" he went on, not even pausing in his step as he strode forward confidently. "You made up the excuse that it was to find your sister, but you just wanted to inflict pain on the ones that hurt you. You've been waiting all this time for it."

"Stop it," Rina begged, her voice cracking as she fell to her knees and the dagger dropped out of her grasp, clattering to the ground.

The man stopped in front of her, looking down at her with gleaming eyes. "I can help you," he said. "I can help you get that revenge. If you help me first, that is."

"No, Rina…don't," Al mumbled, hardly able to keep the black edges that were forming around his mind from closing in completely. "Don't listen…to him."

"Shut up, scum," the man scoffed, looking over at Al with disdain. "You don't have anything to do with this."

"Rina," Al said, his voice insistent as she made no move to do anything. She had her hands gripping her head, and he couldn't see her expression.

"Let's go, dear," the man said, turning back to her. "We need to get out of here before any unwanted guests show up."

"Yes," Rina replied, her voice distant. She stood up slowly, her back to Al. The man strode past her, not even looking behind him to see if she followed.

"No, Rina!" Al called after her, trying to push the cabinets off him, but he couldn't so much as move them an inch. For some reason he couldn't find the strength to do…anything. "Don't go…please, Rina!"

"I'm sorry, Al," Rina murmured, looking back at him over her shoulder. Her eyes were sad, but hard as she turned and followed the man out of the room, out of Al's sight, and out of his reach.

"No," Al muttered, his eyelids feeling heavy. "You can't…go…"

Against his will, he lost his feeble grip on reality, spinning through a dark dream of a twisted world that wasn't so unlike the one he had just left.

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**Aaaw, depressing, right? And I didn't mention Ed. I sorry. Next chapter, I promise! :P**

**So what do you guys think of Rina's past~? I had the whole "sister disappeared" thing planned out awhile ago and I knew I'd tie in the military so she'd turn traitor, but I didn't have any of the specifics planned out until I just sat down and started writing. ^.^'**

**Please review~!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you everyone for the 61 reviews! It really means a lot to me that you would take the time to read and give me your thoughts about my fic, so…thanks! –glomps all reviewers– :D**

**Bet you guys have been waitin' for this chapter, huh? Now we get to see what Al and Ed are up to! ^.^**

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A confusing mesh of sounds swirled around Al's head; he tried to block them out, but to no avail. "Hey, Al, can you hear me?" a painstakingly familiar voice asked, clearly strained and worried…and about to lose its mind with panic.

Prying his eyes open, Al could see the blurry form of Ed leaning over him, his golden eyes reflecting the fear that had been present in his voice. "Brother?" he mumbled.

"Al," Ed sighed with relief, rubbing the palms of his hands against his eyes. That was when Al noticed the bandages wrapped around his brother's head.

"Brother, what happened?" he exclaimed, sitting up too quickly, for his head suddenly started swimming and he had to fight the urge to vomit. Ed gently pushed him down against something soft…a pillow? "Where are we? What's going on?"

"Just take it easy right now," Ed told him. "You need to get some more sleep."

"No…Rina, she…" Al started, his memories starting to come back to him. However, it was all he could do to keep his eyes open.

Ed must have noticed, because he said, "It's okay, you can tell me when you're feeling a little better. We're at the medical wing of the military base. You were found in that filing room and brought here for treatment when someone recognized you."

"Then we were found out?" Al asked, dismayed that he had failed at even that task.

"It's okay, we had been found out before that," Ed said grimly, his mouth a thin line of barely controlled anger.

That was when Al noticed it. "Where's Winry?"

Ed's eyes were like cold chips of golden ice as he stared past Al out the window. "Someone took her," he gritted out. "I tried to stop them, but they snuck up on me and knocked me out before I could do anything. I…I couldn't protect her." The hurt in his brother's voice mimicked the pain that Al was feeling at that very moment. Neither of them could protect those they had promised to never let get hurt.

"It wasn't your fault," Al said.

"No, it was," Ed argued, dropping his head into his hands. "Right before she was taken away, she was trying to tell me about something important that she had found out and I…I wouldn't listen. I was just so tired and frustrated…if I had only come out of my room to listen, I would've been able to save her."

"You can't blame yourself because of something like that," Al protested. "It's not like you knew what was going to happen. _No one_ knows what will happen, and regretting what you did or didn't do won't change anything. Right now we need to figure out what to do from here."

"You're right," Ed sighed. "Now get some sleep; for right now, we can't do much of anything."

"What do you mean?" Al asked.

"The Colonel's coming here," Ed replied.

"You mean General Mustang?" Al asked tiredly.

"No," Ed answered, but before he could clarify himself, there was a knock on the door. "Al, the people here don't know who I am yet, only that I'm with you," Ed whispered hurriedly. "Keep calling me Jason; I'd rather stay under the radar right now." Raising his voice, he said, "Come in!"

The door opened quietly, and a moment later an officer that Al didn't recognize stood in the doorway. He glanced suspiciously at Ed, most likely wondering who he was, since Ed had just told him that no one knew his name. "Soul Alchemist?" the officer asked doubtfully, looking as if he didn't believe that such a young kid could really hold such a title.

"Yes?" Al replied, happy that his voice came out firmly and without a single tremor in it. All he needed right now was to look even weaker than he already did after having just been found in a destroyed section of this place with no explanation. He struggled to sit up on his bed to address the blue-uniformed officer better, Ed helping him. "What is it?"

"I was sent to find out what happened two nights ago," the officer explained.

"Wasn't it last night?" Al asked Ed, who shook his head.

"You've been sleeping for two days," Ed explained. "I was starting to think you wouldn't wake up." He gave a tiny smile, but instead of reassuring, it just showed even more how much he had been worried.

"You caused us a lot of trouble, you know," the officer added. His annoyed expression said as much.

"Sorry," Al said sincerely, to both Ed and the officer. "That wasn't supposed to happen." His eyes darkened as he remembered Rina's back as she disappeared from view.

"Do you really think you should talk to a superior that way?" Ed asked insolently. "After all, you don't even have a rank, do you?"

The officer's face turned red, but he didn't look away from Al. "Your explanation, _sir?"_

"We can't tell you what happened," Ed answered before Al could say anything. He glanced at Al, silently telling him not to speak, that he would fill him in later. He wondered just what all had happened while he had been asleep; what else had happened that he didn't know about?

"I wasn't asking you," the officer snapped, turning to look at Ed with a mixed look of annoyance and disdain. "You don't even belong here; I don't know why they let you in."

"But that's not any of your business, is it?" Ed asked.

"Like you even know what's going on," the officer smirked.

"I know more than you do," Ed retorted. "We're under orders not to speak of what happened," he added before the officer could get out a sharp reply.

"From who?" the officer asked suspiciously.

"That would be me," a familiar voice interrupted from the doorway. Al turned to look in surprise at Colonel Hawkeye, standing in the door frame and surveying them all critically, though her face was blank. _So this was who Ed was talking about,_ Al thought.

"C-Colonel," the officer stuttered, quickly throwing a salute.

Hawkeye ignored him. "You really got yourselves into a mess this time, huh, Elric brothers?" she asked, addressing Ed and Al and shaking her head. "You two always seem to attract trouble."

"E-Elric brothers?" the previous officer asked, his face blanching as he took another look at Ed.

"My, my, we sure are stuttering a lot today, aren't we?" Ed smirked triumphantly. "Though I thought we had agreed not to tell anyone…?" He trailed off, glancing at Hawkeye.

"Which is why you won't speak a word of any of this to anyone, understand?" Hawkeye said, turning to look at the bumbling officer, who nodded vigorously. "In that case, you are dismissed."

They all watched as the officer walked quickly out of the room, Hawkeye moving past him and closing the door behind him once he had left. "Why'd you do that?" Ed asked curiously.

"He needed to learn a lesson in how to respect a superior," Hawkeye said with distaste. "I can't stand those who think they're better than everyone else who they consider to be a civilian or someone they think was given a rank higher than they deserve."

"Colonel Hawkeye, what are you doing here?" Al asked. "When Ed said that the Colonel would be coming, I thought he meant General Mustang."

"The General is preoccupied at the moment, so he sent me instead," Hawkeye answered, looking at Al with softening eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Al answered truthfully. His arm and chest still hurt tremendously, but there was no need for Colonel Hawkeye to know that. Though looking at Ed, he could tell that his brother already knew he was lying. Still, he didn't say anything.

"Perhaps now you could tell us what happened," Colonel Hawkeye prompted.

Ed looked like he was about to object, but Al beat him to it. "The sooner you know, the sooner you can do something about it." He stared hard at Ed, who eventually sighed and shook his head tiredly.

"Go on then," he said.

Al retold his story of what happened that night to Colonel Hawkeye and Ed, the former occasionally stopping him to ask questions and the latter saying nothing at all, even when Al got to the part about Rina. He noticed, however, when he started talking about Rina that Hawkeye's eyes narrowed ever so slightly in a look that Al couldn't discern. Concentration? Suspicion? Or something else entirely? He found that he couldn't meet the colonel's eyes.

"That's it then?" Hawkeye asked when Al had finished. He nodded, his gaze fixed on his bandaged hands, clasped together. He hadn't mentioned how he had felt when Rina had left…as though she had taken his still-beating heart with her. He couldn't blame her, though; if anyone had ever hurt Ed, he wasn't sure he wouldn't have made the same choice.

Ed stared at Al for a long time before turning to Colonel Hawkeye. "What now?" he asked.

"You said before that Winry had something important to tell you before she disappeared; do you have any idea what it might've been?" Hawkeye asked.

Ed flinched at the word disappeared. "She said it was something about what we were researching, but she didn't say what specifically," Ed answered, averting his eyes. Hawkeye glanced between the two Elric brothers, neither making eye contact with her.

"Do you have her journal?" Hawkeye asked more gently. "She might've written something down."

"Yeah," Ed replied. "I found it under the couch; I haven't actually had the chance to look through it thoroughly, but from what I can gather, all of the disappearing officers used to be commanded by a Colonel Avalier. Ring any bells?" Pulling out Winry's notebook, he handed it to Hawkeye, who flicked through the pages with an intent gaze.

"I remember there being some sort of issue with him, but I forgot what happened," Hawkeye murmured.

"There was a piece of paper that I think Winry wrote on before she came to talk to me laying on the table, too, but I'm not sure what it is," Ed continued.

"Can you show it to us?" Hawkeye asked curiously.

Ed shrugged, pulling a hastily wrapped piece of paper out of his pocket and handing it to the colonel. She glanced at it, her brows furrowed in concentration as she read it. "TI-1139?" she asked, glancing at Ed, who, again, shrugged.

"I think it's an automail part," Ed said. "But I don't know. I also don't know what that would have to do with anything."

"It says 'weakest point' right under that," Hawkeye observed. "Any idea what that could mean?"

"What if it's the weakest part in some sort of automail that Winry wanted us to know about?" Al suggested. When Ed and Hawkeye looked at him, he explained. "Well, it's pretty much saying that whatever TI-1139 is or means is the weakest point of something. If it _is _an automail part, then naturally you would find it in automail, right?"

"True, but that still doesn't tell us what the automail is or why that's important," Colonel Hawkeye observed.

"Do you have any news for us?" Ed asked.

"No," Hawkeye sighed regretfully. "There's been no recent development in the disappearances after what happened to you four."

"Is there anything we can do?" Al asked.

"For right now, just concentrate on getting better," Hawkeye said, already heading to the door. "If anything new happens, I'll be sure to let you know."

"Wait, are you saying we should just sit here and do nothing?" Ed questioned furiously.

"You can't just rush in, injured as you are, to face a person as dangerous as this," Colonel Hawkeye told him, her voice holding no room for argument.

"Still, there has to be something–anything–"

"I'm sorry, Ed," Hawkeye murmured. "You'll just have to wait for now."

Al saw his brother's hands clenched into fists, fully expecting him to explode at Hawkeye, but once more, he didn't say anything. Hawkeye closed her eyes, then turned and left the room with both Winry's notebook and the note.

"Ed…" Al started, but wasn't really sure what to say. What _was _there to say?

"I'm going," Ed said suddenly, heading towards the door.

"What?" Al asked, surprised. "Wait, at least tell me where your room is so I can find you. I mean, you're not still staying at the apartment, are you?"

"No, Al," Ed replied. "I'm going to find Winry."

"But didn't you hear Colonel Hawkeye?" Al asked. "She told us not to do anything."

"If you could do something to help someone you care about deeply and you were told to wait, what would you do?" Ed inquired, his back to Al and his hand on the door knob as he waited for Al's answer.

However, Al had no answer to give. He stared down at his hands without seeing them as Ed closed the door with a soft _click _behind him.

* * *

**So how many of you guys read the last Full Metal Alchemist chapter? Can you believe what happened!? I'm going to be sooooo mad/depressed if what Arakawa-sensei was implying is true. D8 And, to my surprise, it was **_**not **_**the last chapter of the series. –stares pointedly in Shadow's general direction…wherever she might be right now– On the other hand, I'm more than happy that there are more FMA updates to come! ^.^**

**Okay, so I have some announcements! Well, more like goals that I have for this story. The first is for it be longer than any of my previous stories, a goal that I think is quite possible. The second I'm less enthusiastic about: I want to finish this fic before November (aka NaNoWriMo) starts so that I don't leave you guys without an update for over a month. 'Cause that would suck. However, I've got virtually no time during the week, I have pre-FBA and actual FBA coming up, and a project that's due on the 23****rd****. T-T Wish me luck my friends; for I will need it. XD**

**Thanks for reading~!**


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm going to be honest; I had no idea what to write for this chapter. If it seems kind of random and not very well thought out…it is. :P**

* * *

Al sat there for a long time, not knowing what to do. Well, that wasn't entirely true. He knew what he _should _do; he should wait here like Colonel Hawkeye had ordered him to. But that wasn't what he _needed _to do. He needed to follow Ed and get Rina and Winry back.

Stepping lightly onto the floor, he winced and had to use the bed to support himself as a wave of dizziness washed over him. _I can do this_, he thought resolutely, letting go and walking to the table on the other side of the room where a pair of clothes lay, neatly folded.

When he had been unconscious, someone must have changed him out of his torn clothes, because now he wore the standard wear of a hospital patient. He wondered who had left this set of clothes, but that was answered when he lifted the shirt and a note fell out. It read only two scribbled words: _Be careful. _

_Ed, _Al thought. _Did he know that I'd try and sneak out…? _Gingerly changing into the clothes his brother had left for him–a long sleeved shirt and pants, presumably chosen to hide his cuts and bandages–he looked around the room for a means of escape. There was a window right above his bed; looking out of it, Al was dismayed to see that he was on the second floor.

He couldn't leave through the main door without attracting attention; he wasn't Ed, who was neither seriously injured nor known to be a famous state alchemist. He couldn't use alchemy either, as that would draw even more attention. He'd have to figure out a way to get down. Sighing as he looked down at his bed, he knew exactly what he'd have to do.

---

After about twenty minutes of climbing down the side of the wall of the military base, avoiding being seen by hiding in the cover of the surrounding trees and having to go down excruciatingly slow because of his arm and still-hurting chest, he reached the ground. Once there, he quickly darted to the street and blended in with the bustling crowd, glancing back over his shoulder the entire way to make sure no one was following him.

When he judged he was a safe enough distance away from the military base, he slipped down a deserted-looking side street to figure out what to do next. Leaning against one of the walls, he debated what to do next. He had no idea where to even begin looking for the others, and he hadn't thought to ask Ed where _exactly _he was going.

_What was I thinking? _Al groaned internally. _I should have thought this through more thoroughly _before_ I decided to sneak out._

"Hey, Al; it's about time you got here," a bored voice greeted. Al looked up to see none other than Ed walking towards him from the other end of the side-street, acting as though they had planned to meet ahead of time at this exact spot, at this exact time.

"Ed?" Al asked, gaping.

"The one and only," Ed replied dryly.

"What are you doing here?" Al asked, standing up straight and trying not to wince from the effort. Ed's eyes narrowed, but he didn't comment or answer Al's question. "I thought you went to look for Winry."

"I thought you'd follow, so I decided to wait for you," Ed answered.

"How'd you know I'd come here?" Al inquired, still confused.

"I didn't," Ed replied simply. "I followed you after you snuck out of your room. Though, I must say, you nearly gave me the slip."

"Where do we go now?" Al asked after a slight pause.

"Ah, finally a question that's worth asking," Ed replied, grinning. "Now we go to where Winry and Rina are."

"Which is…?" Al asked doubtfully.

But Ed only kept grinning. "Follow me," he said, turning and walking back the way he had come. His pace was quick, and Al had to start running to catch up. All the while, he couldn't help but think that there was something in Ed's smile that had looked …dangerous.

---

"This is the place?" Al asked, peering around the corner of a brick-red building. They had entered a rather abandoned section of the town, with no people in sight and all but one of the windows broken in the house they were currently hiding behind. There were similar houses lined along the street, their empty window and door frames gaping toothlessly at the likewise broken streetlights.

"Yeah," Ed replied. "It was listed in the papers Winry had in her journal; I figured it was worth checking out."

"I thought you told Colonel Hawkeye that you hadn't had the time to look through her notes thoroughly…?" Al trailed off.

"I didn't want her to know that I knew about the notes," Ed explained. "If she _had _known, she probably wouldn't have let me out of her sight."

"Where is this again?" Al inquired, surveying the shattered remains of the building Ed had pointed out to him earlier. It was just like the rest: empty windows, graffiti painting the sides, the bricks a faded red, and the roof crumbling in near the edges and gone altogether in some parts. A door leaned crookedly in the frame, barely still on its hinges.

"Rallaway Street, building 609," Ed answered. "This is definitely it, I'm sure of it."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Al asked grimly. He was about to step forward, but Ed grabbed his arm, yanking him back and making him wince.

"We can't just walk out in plain view," Ed hissed. "We need to get in there without being noticed."

"How?" Al asked, impatient. They had finally gotten this far only to be stopped right before their final destination. "Using alchemy would get us noticed right away and anyone could look through those windows and see us. The only other way in is through the door, which would draw attention to us more than anything else. How, exactly, do you propose we get in?"

Ed stared past Al for a minute, then snapped his attention back to his brother. "I have a plan."

---

"How do you know this will lead us to that building we saw?" Al asked nervously. He was crawling behind his brother in the dark through a tunnel he had created with alchemy, which he had assured him would lead them to the cellar of that building where that Avalier person was supposed to be. "How do you even know if there's a cellar?"

"Don't worry about it, Al," Ed replied, his voice echoing slightly in the underground tunnel. "I just made it according to the way we needed to get there."

"And the cellar…?" Al persisted.

"One way or another, we'll get inside," Ed answered, his voice impatient, a sign that he wasn't sure that there was a cellar at all. Al sighed, but he knew this was probably the only way to get there without being immediately noticed. When they finally reached the end of the tunnel, it was a blackened old window, only about two feet tall and wide, looking as old and dilapidated as the rest of the building with cracks running through it like spiderwebs.

"Now what?" Al whispered.

"Now we get Winry and Rina back," Ed muttered grimly. He carefully removed the single window pane, setting it down beside him, and peered inside. Al craned his neck over his shoulder to see, and nearly fell over Ed in surprise.

The room was far newer than the outside let on; in fact, it hardly looked like it was even in the same building they had just seen a few minutes before. There were beams criss-crossing one another right in front of where they stood, and some twenty feet below them, the ground was littered with equipment that Al couldn't even begin to recognize. The walls and floor were still broken and cracked here and there, but not to a noticeable degree. Two doors, one looking like it led to a closet and the other a pristine white, were set in the wall. It looked no one was there.

Ed jumped out of the window frame to land nimbly on one of the beams. He beckoned for Al to follow, keeping a sharp eye on the room below them. Al quickly joined his brother, having to stop himself from stumbling on the first step by grabbing onto another beam.

"Come on, we need to start looking for the others," Ed breathed, lowering himself onto a lower beam, then jumping agilely to the floor. He looked up at Al expectantly, but he was slower in coming because of the pain he felt every time he put strain on his arm. When he finally did land heavily next to Ed, his brother had to grab his uninjured arm to keep him from falling.

"S-sorry, Brother," Al muttered.

"It's fine, Al," Ed replied softly, his voice gentle. Al wondered if his brother was regretting bringing him along since he would only slow him down, but Ed just turned to the white door and started walking over to it. Al hurried after him, trying to make his steps light, but just before he reached his brother, he felt a large weight knock into him that sent him sprawling to the ground. Before he could do anything, he heard a crash and Ed was standing in front of him protectively, his hands poised to use alchemy if necessary.

"Al, are you okay?" Ed asked tensely, not looking back at him.

"Yeah," Al muttered, getting to his knees. His head was pounding from where it had hit the ground, but it didn't feel like there was any blood, so it probably wasn't anything serious. Looking past Ed, he could see a man standing on the other side of the room. It took him a few minutes to identify him past the out-of-place officer uniform of the military, but he eventually recognized the man as Mr. Dublin.

"Glad you could make it," Mr. Dublin greeted coolly from where he stood on the other side of the room, a drawn sword gripped lightly in one of his hands.

"Where are Winry and Rina?" Ed asked bluntly.

"Impatient, are we?" Mr. Dublin asked dryly, walking forward, but Ed didn't back down.

"You're Avalier, right?" he asked. "What do you want?"

"What do _I _want?" Mr. Dublin asked, stopping. "I want to fix the corrupt state that this country is in. It's falling apart at the seams, and it's all because of the military. If they would have listened to my plans in the first place, it never would've come to this."

"Come to what?" Al asked warily, standing up behind Ed. "To hurting innocent people? Or trying to get revenge on the military?"

"As I recall, both young ladies you are referring to are part of the military; hardly innocent to any degree," Mr. Dublin said wryly.

"Winry has nothing to do with any of this," Ed objected. "Give her back. _Now_."

"Temper, temper," Mr. Dublin said mockingly. "If you want to help your friends, then you have to help yourselves first." As he spoke, the white door opened, and someone entered the room. At first it was too dim to make out who it was, but then Al's throat closed up as he recognized exactly who it was standing there.

Rina.

* * *

**Uuuugh I hate this chapter uuuugh it's crap uuuugh I'm so tirrrrrrrreeeed. T-T**

**Do you know how many dashy things I put in there? Three! That's three too many! And why does it always seem like I have a character randomly get hit and then have another character do something and not say what it was?! Crap. I needed Ed and Al to get to where Rina and Winry are, but I didn't know how, and I've been busy with Pre-FBA all day yesterday, at least four or five hours' worth of homework, and this project that took me at least four hours to do and I'm **_**still **_**not done yet. I hate chemistry; I really do. T-T Back to the point: I know this chapter sucks, but I never had it planned out or anything and I'm exhausted (not that either are any excuse), but please bear with me for now; the next one will be better…hopefully. And don't ask me why there was a window to the cellar, it just worked that way. D8**

**Okay, my rant is over. Sorry everyone. ^.^' Only two chapters left~**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey~ Sorry it's a little late; I had a marching band competition all day Saturday (in which we scored a superior! Woot! XD) so I haven't had much time to work on this chapter. Although, I'm very happy to say that there are no more band practices, so I'll probably be able to get up the last chapter sometime during this week. :D**

**Enjoy~ ^.^**

* * *

Al could only stare blankly at Rina. He didn't know why, but for some reason he had pictured her having been tricked into going with Avalier, that at the time she was so confused and frustrated about her family, that she was willing to listen to him. That once she had realized what he was really doing, she'd definitely try to leave him. Definitely. So why then…Why was she standing there as though everything was normal?

"Rina…" Al murmured softly. She didn't even look at him as she took out her blade, the one she had first pulled out in protection when Avalier had first shown up. Now she was going to use it to fight; to fight _them. _

"Brother," Al whispered suddenly.

"What is it, Al?" Ed asked in an undertone, still in a defensive position.

"You go on ahead," Al replied, not taking his eyes off of Rina. "I'll stay here."

"What?" Ed hissed. "Don't be an idiot; you're injured and facing two enemies–" Al flinched, but Ed seemed not to notice, "–there's no way I'm leaving you to fend for yourself."

"Rina isn't an enemy," Al insisted, keeping his voice low. "Besides, there's no point in both of us staying here; you need to go and find Winry and I need to get Rina to realize what she's doing."

"Al, she's fully aware of what she's doing," Ed muttered.

"Brother," Al pressed, his voice insistent. "We can't waste time here." Ed hesitated, glancing between Avalier, who couldn't hear what they were saying, and Rina, who stood firmly in front of them. "Go." His voice was firm and full of his belief that they would all get out of this okay; they always had, no matter what the situation had been. This would be just the same.

"Al, just…" Ed trailed off, then turned to meet Al's eyes for the first time since they had gotten here. "Be careful, okay?" There was something about Ed's words that sent an ominous chill down Al's spine, but he couldn't place why. "I _will_ see you when this is all over, okay?"

"I promise," Al replied, the ghost of a smile touching his lips. "Does that make you feel better?"

"Not really," Ed said truthfully, smiling grimly. "Just come out in one piece." With that, he spun around and ran right at Rina, leaping over her in her moment of surprised hesitation and bolting through the door she had just come out of.

"Stop him!" Avalier yelled, but a moment too late. Al had already clapped his hands together, just like he had so many hundreds of other times before, and had sealed the door shut with a wall of stone transmuted from the concrete floor in a flash of brilliant light.

Avalier cursed under his breath before practically flying through the other door in the room, calling behind him, "Take care of the kid!"

Rina's bewildered expression instantly changed into one of apathetic determination. She rushed forward, then swung her dagger at him. He sidestepped, the blade whirring a hairsbreadth from his face as he stumbled back. "Rina, wait!" he cried, but Rina only swung her dagger again, this time catching him on the sleeve and cutting into his skin.

Al gave a short gasp of pain. Rina took advantage of this moment of distraction and kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying into some sort of equipment. He landed with a crash, hardly able to breath from the air that had been knocked out of his lungs. Coughing, he looked up to see Rina above him, her dagger pointed right at his neck.

"Any last words?" she asked coldly, staring down at him as if they were strangers.

"Rina…" Al said, his voice full of disbelief. Ed had been right; she knew exactly what she was doing. Her eyes told him as much. "Why are you doing this? Joining Avalier? Fighting us? Is revenge really so important to you that you would throw everything away?"

"It doesn't concern you," Rina gritted out, tightening her grip on her dagger.

"When someone's trying to kill me, I think I _am _concerned in the matter," Al retorted mildly. "Please, Rina…"

"I don't need you telling me what to do," Rina snapped. "Without my family, what do I have to live for? You don't understand! At least you've still got your brother! I've got nothing to live for!" By the last word, her voice had cracked, and Al saw the lonely, sad little girl that she really was behind her fierce and lone wolf countenance.

"Rina, there's always something to live for; sometimes you just have to look to find it," Al murmured. "You don't want to do this; if you do, you can never go back. You'll regret it for the rest of your life."

Rina's eyes hardened again. "Don't tell me what _I_ want to do with my life. That's my decision alone." Raising her blade, she drove it straight down at Al.

---

It was dark. Then again, it had _been _dark for the past few days. Rolling onto her side, Winry winced as she moved her shoulder the wrong way. She still wasn't sure what exactly had happened the night she had been abducted; she only knew that somehow her shoulder had been hurt and that Ed had collapsed. She couldn't stop wondering if he was okay, if Al and Rina had found him when they returned from investigating at the military base. She hated _not_ _knowing._ For all she knew, everyone could be dead.

"No," Winry mumbled to herself, shaking her head. "Don't think things like that." She was in a small room with no light, and no furniture. There was a door on the wall in front of her, but no matter how many times she had tried, she couldn't open it. She had heard noises, muffled through the door, come in occasionally, but they were just the sound of footsteps that never stopped walking, and murmured conversations that she could never actually hear. No one had even shown up at all. And she was starving.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Winry asked the empty air, her voice raspy from lack of water. "Rot away in here…?" She shuddered at the thought. _Maybe if I could just get some sleep_, she thought. For some reason, she started wondering what Ed had been doing the two years before he came back home. He had said something about a Gate to Al, but had seemed reluctant to explain it to her. She was just beginning to drift into a state of semi-unconsciousness when the sound of loud pounding footsteps brought her back to reality.

It wasn't like she had never heard people walking by her door before, but this was different somehow. No one had ever _run _by in such a hurry, and there was something uneven about the sound of the steps. Almost like…

Dragging herself to her feet, Winry stumbled over to the door. "Ed?" she called as loudly as she could, which wasn't very loud at all at the moment. "Ed, is that you?" She started pounding the door with clenched fists, wondering if he could even hear her.

"Winry, stand back," a muffled voice came through. Winry had scarcely taken a few steps back from the door when it blew past her in a flurry of sparks and light. In its place stood a frantic-looking Ed. He looked tired, but his eyes were lit up with a fierce light when he saw Winry. For a moment they just stood there, neither of them saying anything.

"Ed," Winry whispered, never feeling so much love, pain, or relief flow into that single word as she did now. She took a step forward, then fell as her exhaustion retook her. Suddenly Ed was right next to her, holding her so that she wouldn't fall. He had his arms wrapped tightly around her and he was…shaking.

"Ed, are you okay?" Winry mumbled distantly. "You didn't go breaking my automail, did you?"

"Winry, I'm sorry," Ed whispered. "I'm so sorry. If I had just listened to you in the first place, if I had thought for even a second…"

"It's not your fault, Ed," Winry said, shaking her head. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"We have to get out of here," Ed said suddenly. "We're in that Colonel Avalier's base, or whatever it is. It isn't safe."

"Ed…there's something I need to tell you," Winry murmured, gripping the front of his shirt tightly and burying her face in it.

"It can't wait until we're out of here?" Ed asked.

"No," Winry answered, shaking her head again. What if she never got the chance to say it? It was now or never. "Ed, I love you; I always have. You don't know how much it hurt when you when you disappeared two years ago. When you came back…" Tears were sliding unbidden down her face now, but she didn't wipe them away, didn't want to. "When you came back, I was so happy." She started laughing now, a shaky laugh that was partly choked off through her tears. "Don't disappear again."

"Winry," Ed whispered, his finger lifting her chin up to look him in the eyes. She was scared to look there, afraid that he might think she was being an idiot or, even worse, to see that he didn't share her feelings; that she would be rejected. But his eyes were soft with concern and gentleness, a look she rarely saw on his usually guarded face.

"I love you, too, Winry," he murmured.

Hardly without realizing it, Winry had her arms wrapped around Ed's neck and suddenly their lips were pressed together. His hands were pressed gently against her back, and her fingers were resting lightly on his chest. She felt her face heat up, but she didn't care. All she could see, hear, think, and breathe was Ed; and she wouldn't have had it any other way.

"My, look at the happy couple, reunited at last," a chilling voice said from the doorway. "I suppose being together was the one thing you _didn't _lie about."

"Mr. Dublin," Winry gasped. Ed had turned his back to her and held his arm out in front of her protectively, facing the newcomer.

"What are you planning?" he practically snarled. Winry detected an undercurrent of worry in his voice, but she couldn't understand why. Her confusion was answered a moment later when Ed said, "Where's Al?"

Winry felt a wash of guilt flood over her. She had been so concerned about Ed that she hadn't even thought about Al or Rina. But why hadn't Ed asked about her? Had Rina not come? Or was she…? She couldn't even bear the thought, despite only having known her for a few months.

"Oh, I'm sure he's out of the way by now," Avalier commented nonchalantly, sounding bored even. Ed tensed, but didn't move. "You know, I did my research very thoroughly on that girl before I invited her to help me," Avalier continued. "She's very skilled, you know. It wouldn't take long for her to finish off that already wounded dog of the military." Winry had no idea what he was talking about, but apparently Ed did, for he rushed forward with his right arm drawn back as if to punch Avalier.

However, when his fist connected, it was to Avalier's own; a metallic clang sounded, and they both stood there, neither backing down, but Ed's face filled with incredulity. "Automail?" he asked.

Avalier laughed, then swung his leg around and kicked Ed squarely in the chest, sending him skidding back into the wall. Winry could only watch in horror as she realized what was going on as Avalier took off his coat. Under it, he wore something closely resembling armor, but she knew that it was the full-body automail that they had been working on. The parts moved smoothly as he lifted his arms, as though they were really a part of him.

"Say your prayers, Full Metal!" Avalier yelled, charging to where Ed was shakily standing up.

"Sorry, but I don't believe in a god," Ed muttered, and struck his hands together with a resounding clap.

---

The blade whistled straight at Al's face–and past his ear, striking the ground with a sharp metallic clang. Rina stood above him, her face set, but with a different expression. "My decision…" she whispered, letting her bangs fall to cover her face. "My decision is to go back to the way things were."

Falling on her knees, Al saw the glimmer of tears as they ran down Rina's face. She choked down the sob that was threatening to rise, and suddenly cried, "This isn't fair! I…I never asked for this! For any of this!"

Without thinking, Al wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly to him as though he would never let go. Maybe he never would. He had expected her to pull away from him, but instead, she just cried even harder, hugging him tightly and letting her head rest on his shoulder.

When her sobs had died down to little more than gasps, Al murmured, "Nothing is fair. We just have to live as best we can, making choices that we'll be satisfied with in the end. Some are luckier than others, but only those who know true pain can know true happiness, too."

"I'm so sorry, Al," Rina whispered, pulling back to look at him in the eye. "I…"

"It's okay," Al reassured her, standing up. "Right now, we need to find Ed and Winry. Do you know where they might be?"

"No," Rina admitted sorrowfully. "They never told me where Winry was."

"Then we'll just–" Al started, but was cut off from a loud explosion up above. A cloud of dust fell down on them, along with a few chipped pieces of ceiling tile. "Found them." Looking back at Rina, he asked, "What's the quickest way to get where that sound came from?"

"Follow me," Rina told him, turning and running through one of the doors, Al close on her heels. They followed a series of winding staircases, then took a sharp left. After running down a slightly curving path for a long while, Al could start to hear the sounds of fighting again. Right as they reached an open door, it burst outwards into the hall, scattering fragments of the wall along with a familiar person.

"Brother!" Al yelled anxiously. Ed sat up, but with an obvious effort, and looked over at Al and Rina.

"Glad to see you're okay," he mumbled quickly, but his voice was filled with relief. He glanced over at Rina, then must've decided that she was back on their side again, because he said grudgingly, "I need your help."

"If there's anything I can do to help, I won't hesitate to do it," Rina promised quietly, her eyes on the ground.

"Figures you'd turn traitor; then again, you already had," a voice said from the busted doorway. Avalier appeared with it, holding Winry in one arm while simultaneously sealing her mouth shut with his hand. "Too bad you figured out my secret," he said to her. "You were a great help in designing this, even though you didn't have a clue. I would've liked to have had you as an assistant, but I suppose it's too late now."

"Mmmff!" Winry screamed, struggling to get loose.

"Let her go," Ed warned in a dangerously low voice, standing up. He was holding his left arm with his right, blood trickling down it from a large gash. He was unsteady on his feet, too, even though Al knew how hard he must be trying to not show his weakness.

"The part!" Winry yelled, momentarily freeing her mouth before Avalier had closed it again.

"Damn you, girl," he cursed, but Ed and Al already knew what she meant.

"Al!" Ed said, glancing at his brother.

"Yeah," Al replied, the both of them agreeing on their silent plan.

Al rushed forward at Avalier, veering left to right quickly to try and hide his movements. Avalier tossed Winry effortlessly onto the floor a few yards away, where she landed with a muffled _oof! _Suddenly, his clenched first flew out and hit Al right in the stomach, knocking all of the air out of his lungs. But more than that, he felt something pierce his stomach; he could almost feel the blood start trickling out of where he was hit as he was sent sprawling on his back on the debris-littered ground. He caught a glimpse of the hand Avalier had struck him with; on the knuckles, four spikes stood out, long, sharp, and covered in scarlet blood.

Then Avalier was standing above him, a sword drawn and being pulled back for the final blow. "Good bye, and good riddens," he snarled, and then he stabbed the sword down. Everything seemed to move in slow motion; he heard Ed and Winry call out his name, and something–someone–moved right in front of him. He stared with blank shock and horror as he saw the tip of Avalier's sword protruding straight from Rina's back. Avalier, in front of her, looked just as surprised, but not nearly so anguished.

"Rina!" Al screamed. "Why…?!"

"I found what I wanted to live for, Al," Rina murmured, then broke off into a cough as blood dripped down the side of her mouth. "And I decided…that I would die for that, too."

Avalier pulled his sword out of Rina with a sound of disgust, and she crumpled instantly to the ground in front of Al. "Rina, no!" Al cried, cradling Rina in his arms. "You were supposed to live! Dying is just as bad as running away! Please, Rina…don't leave me!" His gaze was blurred with tears as he watched Rina's eyes slowly clouding over.

"Heh…guess you won't…be able to show me around Resembool…huh, Al?" she asked faintly.

"No," Al whispered. "No, Rina. I promised…I promised you I'd protect you. Why is this happening?"

"Sorry, Al," Rina whispered. "Guess…what you said was true. Life really isn't fair. But this is a choice…that I decided on my own. And I wouldn't change it, even if I could. Al…I love you more than anything else in…the world."

"Rina," Al repeated. It felt like all he could say was that single word as he felt her slipping away from him forever. "I…I love you too."

Rina smiled at him faintly.

Without Al having realized, Ed had come up behind Avalier and stabbed his automail arm, transmuted into his usual blade, right between the ex-colonel's shoulder blades. A spark flew, then, with a horrified look on Avalier's face, his automail armor exploded in a burst of roaring flames.

Ed was thrown back against the wall behind him by the ferocity of the fire. Winry stumbled over to him, holding him unyieldingly as soon as she reached him. "Al!" Ed called through a wall of quickly spreading flames, but the sound barely reached Al's ears. There was a black dimness closing in on the edges of his visions, and when he pulled his hand away from his stomach where Avalier had hit him, it was covered with dark blood. "Hurry, come over here!"

Looking to where Ed was standing, frantically trying to get to him, Al slowly shook his head. He heard the distant sound of crumbling walls, sounding like thunder as the building started falling in on itself. "I'm staying, Brother," he said, and as he said those words, a momentary silence seemed to fall over them.

"What are you saying, Al?" Ed asked, his eyes wide with horror as he saw Al's wound. He started shaking his head slowly, as if trying to convince himself that what he saw wasn't real. "Al…Al, you promised! You promised we'd make it out of this together!"

"Sorry, Brother," Al said. "I guess it just wasn't meant to end that way. I'm going to stay…with Rina." He glanced down at Rina, who was still just barely breathing, and locked eyes with her for a long moment before looking back at Ed. "Don't forget me, Brother."

"Al!" Ed screamed, but the roof above them fell and separated them. The last thing he ever saw of his brother was his weak smile as he gazed lovingly back at him. Choking down a cry, Ed grabbed Winry by the wrist and recklessly threw himself out of the window, the glass already having been blasted out.

They landed heavily on the ground, but surprisingly, it wasn't the hard concrete of the street. When Winry looked up, they were surrounded by troops from the military, officers frantically shouting commands to each other as everyone ran around busily. She spotted Hawkeye a few feet in front of them, and when their eyes met, she turned away, instantly understanding.

A single cry cut through the night air, unnoticed by the rest of the world; uncared for by those who knew nothing of the hearts that had been broken, and could never be fixed.

* * *

…**Don't hurt me! D8**

**So, in the end, I decided to base the end off of the ending of one of my favorite animes: Chrono Crusade. Such a good anime, though the manga was better; look into it if you ever want to read a really depressing/funny/epic series. I think I might have overdid it in a lot of places though… =\ I was so depressed writing this chapter… T-T**

**Please review! Only one chapter left~ ^.^**


	15. Epilogue

**So…the last chapter. EVER. T-T I know I haven't been the most active updater, but I'm still going to miss this fic. Special thanks to Shadow-senpai for brainstorming with me on it, even though she doesn't remember we pretty much planned half the angst out over a month ago. }:D/^.^**

**Anyways, looking back at my last chapter, I think I'm going to have to go through and do some serious editing. I was rushing at the end last night because I was up late and didn't want my mom to walk in and get mad at me. D8**

**As far as I know, this'll be my last fic and update until November/NaNoWriMo ends. After that, we'll see what I come up with, I guess. :P Aaanyways, thanks to all of my readers and everyone who reviewed and stuck with my story from the beginning! You guys don't know how much that means to me, even if it only took you a few minutes to write down a comment you might've thought wasn't very helpful, because it really brightened my day. ^.^**

**Onto the chapter~!**

* * *

"Wait up, Rain!" Allan called after his older sister.

"You should just run faster, Al," Raihna yelled back, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Now, now, both of you calm down," Winry scolded them gently. "This is no time to be playing games."

"Sorry, Mother," they chimed, running back to her.

"Mother, where's Father?" Raihna asked.

"He'll already be there, I'm sure," Winry answered, taking both of her children by their hands and leading them along a small stone pathway, winding its way up a rolling green hill. They walked until they reached the shade of a towering old oak tree, its branches swaying gently in the soft breeze. Ed stood there, his back to them as he gazed down at two plaques set in the ground.

"Father!" Raihna greeted happily, running over to him. Allan stayed with Winry, looking sadly, almost comprehendingly, even, up at her, as if he had personally known the two people that they were here to grieve for.

"Hello, little Rain," Ed replied, smiling slightly down at her.

Raihna's grin disappeared as she saw the seriousness of his expression, despite his attempted smile. Glancing at the plaques, she kneeled down in front of them, clasping her hands together and closing her eyes. Allan quickly went to join her, taking up the same position at her side. His light brown hair fell into his eyes, eyes a shimmering blue. Raihna's hair was as golden as her eyes, looking so much like her father it made Winry's gaze hurt sometimes.

Winry stood next to Ed, leaning against him gently. "Al, Rain, why don't you two go play?" Winry suggested after some time had passed.

"Okay," Raihna agreed readily, scrambling up. "C'mon, Al, I'll race you to the bottom!" Without waiting for a reply, she ran off, laughing happily.

"Hey, no fair!" Allan called after her, racing to catch up. But he would let her win in the end; it was just like him to do that to make his sister happy, Winry observed quietly.

"I can't believe it's already been nine years," Winry murmured softly, gazing at the plaques. The words _Alphonse Elric_ and _Rina Glass _were inscribed on them, respectively. The words _Died in service of the military _were written on both of them, and they had each been promoted two ranks.

"Yeah," Ed sighed. Winry could tell from the blank look of his face that the passing of time had done nothing to soothe the pain of losing his brother.

"Mustang, Armstrong, and Hawkeye stopped by earlier," Winry went on. "They said they stopped here on the way, but they couldn't stay for dinner. Apparently they had business elsewhere."

"Yeah," Ed repeated. Winry gave him a sympathetic look; he was always like this on this day every year. "They never even found the bo…Al and Rina."

"Ed, there's no way they could've made it out of there," Winry told him, the same thing she said every year. "The building was left alone, too; for all we know, they _are _still in there. Besides, if they were alive, they would've come home, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Ed sighed again. For a long moment, he just stood silently looking at the graves. Allan and Raihna's shouts from the bottom of the hill floated up towards them, reminding Winry of how little the world really did notice Al and Rina's deaths. Then again, the world stopped for no one. It wasn't their time, anymore; it would all be left to the next generation soon. They would think and act differently, but their actions, their mistakes, would all be repeats of the past.

_Al, Rina…if you can hear me, then I'm sorry that I couldn't do anything that day to help you. I wish…I wish I could change those few moments. I wish I could've _done _something. I'm so, so sorry. _

"Winry, let's go home," Ed said, glancing over at her.

"Mmm," Winry agreed.

Together, the two of them walked down the hill, leaving the sorrowful past behind them to embrace the new future. The future of the new generation.

* * *

**For as excited as I was to write this epilogue, I really hate how it turned out, both lengthwise (most of the words are the ANs D8) and quality wise; especially since it's the last chapter. D8**

**Anyways, I have some good news! Both goals were met: There are more words in this fic than any of the other ones I've written (though it wasn't 50K like I'd hoped) and I finished it before November started. Woot! And I realize this chapter might've been a bit confusing, so if you have any questions, ask me in a review or PM or something and eventually I'll probably add another sort-of chapter that answers all of the questions asked. **

**For those of you who are thinking "Yes! There's still a chance that Al (and Rina) are still alive!" don't get your hopes up. I added that so that you can think whatever you want, but unless I ever do a sequel, they probably won't be coming back. Even then it's doubtful that they will. =\ Oh, and some more news (sorry, I know I'm bombarding you with my super long ANs *-*)! I've decided that when I make my next fic, it'll probably either be Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles or a sequel to this one. I think that's all, so now I'll let you all go on with your merry lives. :P **

**Thanks for reading~! ^.^**


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